The Dove and the Serpent: Finding you
by thesituation016
Summary: Finding out that my father is alive shortly after my mother dies is one thing. Finding out he's Tony Stark was the real shock and this is only the beginning of my story.(This will be a cross over between X-men 1-3, Fantastic Four 1 with a Fantastic Four 2 cameo, Ghost Rider cameo, Spider-man and Daredevil mention, Iron Man 1-3, Thor 1-2, and Avengers in a four or more part story.)
1. Chapter 1

A girl no more than eight with shoulder length black hair starred out the window of the limousine tears silently streaming down from her silver eyes. She had just lost her mother and was now being sent off to live with her father a man whom she had never met in person.

She had seen him on TV a few times, but that was it and she only knew now because her mother was dead, killed. She had refused to tell him she was in critical condition despite her daughters suggesting that he might be able to help, that was just the type of woman Sara Rose Jones had been. She always wanted to stand on her own two feet.

The limo pulled up in front of his house and Vanessa could feel her nerves hit her full force, not only was she in a new country having never stepped foot out of Europe, but she was meeting her father.

She was not a stranger to moving around, her mother though German had moved around a lot because of her mother's European Prima Donna status, but now Tony Stark was about to become a father she would probably be more stationary and she didn't know how he was going to take having a daughter.

"Come on sweetie." Her care taker said taking her hand and leading her out of the limo. She then handed Vanessa a handkerchief with a small smile. "Let's make you look pretty for your dad."

"How did he take it? Discovering he was a dad?" Vanessa asked as she wiped her face free of her tears. The social worker was quiet for a moment before answering, but she knew that it was useless trying to hide anything from Vanessa. She was a child wise far beyond her years.

"As well as anyone can expect." She replied.

"Right." Vanessa said as they walked up to the front door. The social worker knocked on the door and they stood back waiting for it to be answered.

"Just smile, he'll love you." The social worker said encouragingly. Vanessa wasn't so sure, but managed a small smile any way. The door was opened, but instead of Tony Stark it was his assistant Pepper Potts looking very confused.

"Can I help you?" Pepper asked, looking down at the small girl clutching a knit dove doll then back at the social worker.

"Ms. Potts, this is Vanessa Kim Jones we told Mr. Stark of her arrival today." The Social worker said. Pepper looked down at Vanessa then back at the social worker. "Maybe I should clarify, this is Vanessa Kim Jones-Stark, Tony Stark's daughter."

Pepper looked down at the little girl in shock for a moment and could instantly tell that the social worker was telling the truth. She looked like a shorter female version of Tony with subtle differences and coloring.

"One moment please." Pepper said as she started to tap on some flat screen. Vanessa heard a strange noise then saw her father come up to the front door.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about you." He said eyeing Vanessa. The social worker gasped as Vanessa felt like someone had kicked her in the gut. Pepper hit Stark upside the head and glared at him. "What?!"

"Here are the papers; she must stay with you legally now." The social worker said evenly. "Her mother Sara Jones and you were together for a time as I understand it." Tony nodded remembering the beautiful blonde haired silver eyed woman. "She passed away from injuries sustained in a hit and run leaving her daughter to you."

Tony's eyes went wide with shock and something akin to regret and sadness passed through them before his mask slid back into place. Pepper looked over the papers as Tony read them over her shoulder and nodded.

"She's right." Pepper said looking at Tony who looked stricken. "You're a dad."

"She doesn't have an aunt or…" Tony started nervously.

"You are her last living relative." The Social worker said glaring coldly at Tony. Vanessa couldn't even look at him keeping her eyes trained on the ground. Pepper kneeled down in front of Vanessa.

"Hi, I'm Pepper, how about I show you to your room while Tony finishes up here?" Pepper said holding out her hand to Vanessa. Vanessa looked at it for a moment before taking it and following her inside.

She could hear Tony arguing with the social worker who started to threaten to bring in the media if he didn't co-operate. Vanessa was grateful when they were too far away to hear them anymore.

-0-

Vanessa marveled at the room that was to be hers. It was quite large and obviously meant to be a guest room. She stood awkwardly as Pepper showed her where everything was having left Tony to sign the needed paper work albeit reluctantly.

"Don't worry; we'll get some paint and other things to make it more personal." Pepper said with a kind smile. Vanessa wasn't really paying attention though she was staring sadly out the window that looked over the sea. Her mom used to take her to the beach for picnics all the time. "Vanessa? Oh sweetie."

Pepper came over grabbing some tissue on the way gently crouching down to Vanessa's height as she handed the tissue to her. Vanessa hadn't even realized she had been crying as she wiped the tears away.

"Sorry." Vanessa mumbled.

"It's ok." Pepper said putting a comforting hand on Vanessa's shoulder. "You'll love it here, and don't worry, Tony's just a little…rough around the edges. I'm sure he'll warm up to you once he has time."

"Really?" Vanessa asked looking up at Pepper feeling a little spark of hope.

"Of course." Pepper said pulling the girl into a hug so she wouldn't see her doubtful worried look. "Now how would you like to meet JARVIS?"

"Ok, who's he?" Vanessa asked, her mood having brightened.

"You'll see." Pepper said with a smile as she stood up. "JARVIS I'd like you to meet Vanessa?"

"A pleasure Miss Vanessa." A voice said and Vanessa looked around, but saw no one.

"That's JARVIS. He runs the house." Pepper said and explained how he worked.

"It's nice to meet you JARVIS." Vanessa said with a smile.

"You as well Miss Vanessa." JARVIS replied.

"If you need anything and no one's around JARVIS will be able to help you." Pepper said the motioned to Vanessa luggage. "Would you like me to help you un-pack?"

"Yes please." Vanessa answered not wanting to be alone. Pepper helped her put her clothes up and other such things.

"You take ballet?" Pepper asked holing up the pink ballet slippers.

"Since I was four and I just started ballroom dancing and I also take singing and acting lessons. My mom was in the theatre and I decided that I wanted to be in it as well." Vanessa said with a smile then came to realize something. "Will I still be able to take classes?"

"Of course, we'll find you a studio first thing Monday morning for both, how does that sound?" Pepper said as they finished up.

"That would be great." Vanessa said with a smile.

She had decided to paint her room a soft blue with white accents giving it a light and airy feel. She had a white vanity desk against the wall next to the door that led to her bathroom and there was a white four poster wrought iron bed with a mint green comforter that had light blue leaf and small lilac flower print on it along with light blue, white, lilac, and mint green pillows with white gauzy curtains around the bed that had been tied back.

On either side of her bed painted on the walls were silver trees that came together above her and had a few doves scattered in its branches. On either side of her bed was a white night stand with light blue reading lamps with white lace shades on them and a white colored fainting couch was tucked away into the corner with a lilac throw blanket on it and a light blue pillow.

At the end of the bed was a white wicker trunk with a lilac cushion on top. White shelves filled with different books lined her walls as well and a large window that looked out over the ocean had mint green curtains pulled back on either side and she had a walk in closet.

The bathroom was mint green with white accents. There was a large sized bath tub, a toilet, and sink that looked like a bowl sitting on top of the counter with an oval mirror over it. There was a small pantry for her towels and toiletries, lilac mats on the floor, pulled back light blue shower curtains, and in the corner was a white wicker laundry basket.

Pepper also enrolled Vanessa in a nearby prestigious academy for musical theatre and in no time she was excelling in the class. She often invited Tony to her recitals, but he either came up with an excuse of why he couldn't come or just didn't show.

Luckily Pepper was always there as well as Happy and Rhodey when their jobs permitted it. If it wasn't for them she would have grown up without any kind of support what so ever. They were her family, but she still wished for a father as well.

-0-

Vanessa was in a place no ten year old should be. What once started out as a descent New Year's party with respectable people quickly turned into a frat party thanks to Tony Stark. The only reason she was her was because Obadiah thought it would be good for press for Tony to be seen with his daughter more, boy did that flop.

She was wearing a black and white stripped long sleeved sweater dress with a red rose over her heart, black tights that tucked into red ballet flats, her hair was up in a high ponytail with a red sting bow, she carried a small red purse, and folded over her arm was her favorite leather jacket.

Vanessa turned and started to walk toward the bar when she bumped into a man on crutches almost causing him to stumble.

"I'm so sorry." Vanessa said with a blush as she reached out and steadied him. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"That's ok, just be more careful next time." He said with a smile before he continued on his way. She finished walking over to the bar and climbed up into one of the seats then waited for the bar tended to notice her.

"This is no place for a child." The man next to her commented. Her was balding, had wire framed round glasses, and was Arabic if his accent was anything to go by.

"Try telling that to him." Vanessa said as she pointed with her thumb over her shoulder at her smashed dad dancing with a bunch of floozies as she called them. The man gave her a sympathetic look and signaled to the bartender.

"How about a root beer float?" He asked sending Vanessa a smile.

"Yes please." Vanessa replied brightening up at the prospect of the treat. The bar tender quickly made it and delivered it to her with a cheery on top. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." He replied as someone came over. He nodded as the woman talked, then she left. "I am afraid I must go now, it was nice meeting to you Miss Stark."

"Wait, what's your name?" Vanessa asked.

"Yinsen." He replied.

"Then it was nice to meet you as well Mr. Yinsen." Vanessa said with a smile waving as Yinsen left. Once he was gone she returned to her float until another man on her left caught her attention.

He was mumbling to himself as he ran his hand through his dark brown hair while starring down at a notebook which had a complicated equation on it. He was tall and kind of lanky with dark brown eyes and his hair had a slight curl to it.

Vanessa skimmed the paper and saw a flaw. Along with her skills in the theatre she had also inherited her father's scientific mind. She looked from the man and back to the equation wondering if she should tell him. Deciding what could it hurt she tapped him on the shoulder. He looked over then down in confusion having expected someone closer to his height and probably age as well.

"Hello." He said cautiously. "Can I help you?"

"That part of your equation is wrong." Vanessa said pointing to the part of the formula she was taking about. "Can I borrow your pen?"

He handed the pen and watched as she rewrote the equation on a napkin then handed it to him. His eyes widened in shock as he looked down at the new formula.

"That's amazing. I never saw that." He said with a smile as he plugged in her work to his. "Thank you."

"No problem." Vanessa replied and held out her hand. "I'm Vanessa Stark."

"Reed Richards." He said shaking her hand. "I was going to ask what you were doing here, but…"

"Yeah, Pepper is going to kill him later." Vanessa said with a smile. "Since she couldn't make it she gave him specific orders to take care of me." Vanessa turned in her seat looking for her dad, but couldn't spot him. "I better go find him, it was nice talking to you."

"You as well." Reed said with a smile as he watched her hop of the chair and disappear into the crowd. He couldn't help, but to wonder how Tony Stark had such a sweet daughter.

Vanessa wondered around the entire room until she found out from some of the jealous party girls that he had gone up to some smart botanist girl's room. Sighing angrily to herself she walked over to the elevator and rode it up to her room. She took out her key card and slipped in closing the door behind her.

She had just finished getting ready for bed when her phone rang.

"Hello." Vanessa said answering the phone.

"Hi Vanessa, how are you and Tony doing?" Pepper asked cheerfully although she didn't stay that way long.


	2. Chapter 2

-0-

Vanessa was thirteen now and her hair flowed down her back in a braided halfway up style. She was walking down the local strip mall he knit cap and sunglasses firmly in place to hide her appearance from unwanted attention.

Vanessa walked down the street from the theatre having grown tired of waiting for Tony to pick her up. They were in the middle of a production of 'The Phantom of the Opera.' She had landed the role of Meg for which she was extremely happy for considering her age.

She decided to poke around the strip mall before she headed home. It was nice that she could do this and not have to worry about the nanny brigade. Her sneaking out on her own was a thing that drove Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, and Tony crazy so of course she did it as much as possible.

Not that she gave them a whole lot of trouble. She was top of her class having inherited her father's knack for learning; she was about to graduate high school already and had already started college courses. She had also inherited his aptitude for mechanical development, but from her mother she had developed a love for the theatre her talents in song, acting, and dance propelling her toward a bright future no matter what path she chose.

So she was over all a well-rounded child as far as academics went and she never gave the school any trouble, she saved all of her mischief for Tony, such as today when he was supposed to be spending the day with her, but had locked himself in his workroom and completely forgot so she had decided to take a day for herself. Pepper was going to kill him when she found out and her not being there was going to make it even worse for him.

She was admiring a beautiful outfit in the window of a store that consisted of a blue dress with a thick red belt with a sweet heart top and a high neck lace top with capped sleeves. She was smiling to herself at Tony's impending doom with great satisfaction when someone bumped into her.

"Hey." Vanessa snapped as she almost fell to the ground knocking her glasses off in the process.

"Sorry." A boy with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes said as he reached out and steadied her. Then his eyes widened in shock. "Vanessa Stark."

"Oh piss." Vanessa breathed out as everyone turned at the boy's exclamation.

People instantly started to crowd around her, phones were taking snap shots of her, people were asking for her autograph, and women were shoving their numbers at her for her father. She could feel the panic building in her as her heart sped up at an uncomfortable rate as the crowd pressed in.

They were to close, her chest felt like it was on fire, to close, she couldn't breathe, so close, and everything was starting to spin. A buzz filled the air and a ringing sounded in her ears as well as the profound dizziness over took her. She tried to shake it off, tried to get away, but it persisted, got worse, and the crowd wouldn't let her through. It felt like something was building up inside of her until it was near to bursting as her breath came out in painful gasps.

She placed her hands on either side of her head and gritted her teeth as she sank to her knees, but still the crowd pressed. Pebbles and trash on the ground started to vibrate then slowly move as if being blown by the wind that was nonexistent that day, then they started to float around her forcing people back.

They watched fearfully as her hair rose in the air her eyes closed tight in fear and pain. Finally it all became too much and she let out a huge scream as a wave pulsed through the crowd causing them to stumble to the ground. She fell over to the ground hard unable to comprehend what had just happened. Everyone that had seen what had happened starred at her in shock as she slowly sat up.

"It's a mutant." Someone shouted and Vanessa could feel the air go tense. She knew what she was and her ability was clear to her. She had studied mutants for a long time so she knew what was happening to her. She also knew that mutants were not well liked, but she was too tired to run away and the crowd was beginning to press in again, angry shouts filling the air.

"Vanessa!" Someone shouted as they pushed through the crowd. Happy kneeled down in front of her and scooped her up into his arms carrying her back to the car through the crowd.

"How did you find me?" Vanessa gasped out.

"When Tony realized you weren't at the theatre he called me to look for you then I saw the crowd and took a guess." Happy said as he sat her in the front seat, and then ran around to the other side pushing people away. "What were you thinking? You were supposed to wait at the theatre."

Vanessa just shook her head not answering as she tried not to cry. Her head was pounding and she felt sick to her stomach. When they finally reached home she jumped out of the car and ran up the front steps ignoring Happy calling out to her.

She ran into the house slamming the door closed behind her and leaning against it slowly slipping to the ground. She brought her knees up her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs burying her face in them. She couldn't stop shaking as the shock settled in and her mind as well as her heart raced. She took deep breaths trying to stop her tears, but they kept coming.

"Finally, there you are, I thought Pepper was going to kill me. Why weren't you at the theatre, I wasn't that late." Tony said as he came up to her hurriedly then seemed to notice something wasn't right. He looked at her nervously trying to decide how to approach her. "Hey kid, you ok?"

"Something really weird happened." Vanessa said looking up at him. "Something big."

"Oh…uh is this a lady thing, here wait let me call Pepper." Tony said as he fumbled for his phone.

"No it's…" Vanessa started, but Tony cut her off.

"Seriously let's wait for Pepper, birds and bee talks are seriously out of my depth." Tony said hurriedly looking more nervous by the minute. Vanessa kept trying to interrupt him but he was on a rant. "Anyways wouldn't you rather talk to another woman about these things? It's ringing so just…"

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP?!" Vanessa yelled snapping to her feet causing the whole room to shutter subtly and Tony froze starring at her wide eyed.

"Tony was that Vanessa is she ok?" Pepper asked over the phone. Vanessa shook her head and ran up to her room.

"Why can't you just be my dad for five seconds, would it kill you?!" Vanessa yelled as she ran upstairs to her room slamming the door shut behind her. She collapsed on her bed and curled up crying. Tony stood still were she had left him then slowly put the phone to his ear.

"Never mind Pepper, I got it." He said into the phone before hanging it up before Pepper could reply.

-0-

Vanessa lay on her bed starring up at the ceiling contemplating calling Pepper or Happy maybe even Rhodey and wondering what they'd think of her new abilities. She could feel it just like it was locked behind a closed door waiting to get out at her command or anytime it wanted to.

She reached out her hand to her book shelf and concentrated on her knit stuffed dove that was sitting on it. Slowly it began to slide out of its spot then made its way over to her hands. She starred down at the toy running her thumb over the blue ribbon around its throat that her mother had made for her when she was only two.

Turning over, curling into a tight ball she clutched the dove to her chest and turned her thoughts to the media, what they would do if they found out. All those pictures and videos were sure to be sold to the news. A hesitant knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts.

"Vanessa, can I come in?" Tony asked quietly. Vanessa gave a non-committal noise and he slowly entered. He felt a pang of guilt when he saw her curled up on the bed clutching her dove. He walked over and sat on the edge of her bed and handed her a pint of chocolate ice cream. She gave him a look. "When I was little and feeling down my mom would bring me ice cream."

"Thank you." Vanessa said as she sat up on the bed and took the ice cream the dove resting on her lap. They sat in silence as she ate the ice cream until Tony had gathered enough courage to talk.

"I'm sorry if I at times seemed stand off-ish." He started. Vanessa snorted shooting him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Ok a lot stand off-ish, but having a kid all of the sudden and a girl at that, I was scared and still am. I have no idea what to do."

"Neither do I. I've never been a daughter to a father before." Vanessa said before taking another spoonful of ice cream.

"So I guess we both have a lot to learn." He said stealing her spoonful of ice-cream and eating it himself.

"You are so cheesy." Vanessa said stealing spoon back.

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?" He asked. Vanessa's spoon froze halfway to her mouth and slowly she lowered it back to the bowl and set it on her nightstand.

"I…well…" Vanessa stuttered then took a deep breath. She clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and just said it. "I think I'm a mutant."

"I'm sorry, what?" Tony asked in slight shock.

"I'm a mutant." Vanessa said not looking at him as she explained what happened in town.

"Are you sure?" He asked after a brief silent recalling how the room had shuddered when she was angry. Vanessa held out her hand concentrating until the ice cream floated over to her hand from the night stand. "Holy crap."

"My thoughts exactly." Vanessa said handing the rest of the pint to Tony who took a large spoonful and stuffed it into his mouth. "So…?"

"I have no idea." Tony answered truthfully. "So we're just going to have to figure this out as we go along to."

"That sounds good." Vanessa said.

"So are we going to tell Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy?" Tony asked.

"Of course." Vanessa said.

"Are you going to become a superhero now? I always thought it'd be cool to be a superhero." He said with a smile.

"As if, who would be afraid of a thirteen year old girl and what would I even call myself?" Vanessa said with a laugh.

"How about Mind Girl, Brainy, or Floater?" Tony listed off making Vanessa laugh harder.

"Those are horrible." Vanessa gasped out as she laughed. He listed off a few others each worse than the last. "Maybe we should hold off on the superhero name."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea." Stark said when he couldn't come up with a good name. "Now let's call Pepper and Happy then order some pizza, you want to see if Rhodey can make it to?"

"Sure, that sounds great." Vanessa said with a smile as she sprang to the floor.

"And Obadiah?" Tony asked.

"Nah, he has enough to worry about with the new business merger, no sense in telling him about this to and giving the poor man a heart attack." Vanessa said waving her hand. An hour or so and a few calls later they were all sitting in the living room eating as Vanessa told them what had happened to her.

"A mutant? Wow kid, I knew you were special, but now you have super powers to." Happy said with a laugh as he ate a slice of pizza. "Have you thought of a super name yet?"

"No, but Tony came up with a few." Vanessa said.

"Oh this should be good." Rhodey said with a laugh.

"Hey, I came up with awesome names." Tony pouted.

"Then let's hear some." Happy pressed. Everyone laughed as Vanessa listed the names off.

"Wow, Tony I'm impressed. They weren't vulgar." Pepper said with a smile making Tony pout even harder.

"You know, I have a cousin who's a mutant and he went to this special secret school up in Manchester, New York. It's called Xavier's School for the Gifted. They teach you how to use your powers." Rhodey said.

"Really? That sounds interesting." Vanessa commented looking to Tony.

"Kind of far away to." He said looking down at his drink.

"Aw, you'd miss me wouldn't you?" Vanessa said nudging his shoulder making him roll his eyes.

"Like the plague." He replied while the others watched with happy smiles on their faces. All of them glad that the two were finally getting close. As for all of the film of the incident, it mysteriously disappeared overnight so no evidence of what had happened was left.

They decided to put the school off for a while in the end since Vanessa had a lot going on there at home with theatre and such. She couldn't just leave them high and dry plus she was just getting to know her dad.

Vanessa bade everyone goodnight after a few more hours of conversation and displaying her powers which were shaky at best. She got ready for bed and was soon snuggled under her comforter drifting off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Vanessa walked through what seemed to be an empty landscape filled with fog. There was no sound at all to be heard and nothing that she could see through the fog.

"I must be dreaming." Vanessa mumbled to herself then realized that she knew that is was a dream which meant she could control it. Thinking to herself she began to imagine what she wanted.

Suddenly through the fog disbursed to reveal a carnival filled with rides, games, and food stands. She gave a happy cheer and ran into the midst of all the lights and sound of Pump it by Black Eyed Peas played.

Next she looked down and changed her clothes to a knee length dress with quarter length sleeves and a scoop neck with a black vest over it and under that she wore a pair of black tights that tucked into ankle boots. She looked up watching with wonder as a night sky bloomed her filled with blinking stars.

She was so busy watching the sky that she didn't watch where she was going. She ran straight into another person causing them both to stumble, but the man as she found him to be steadied them keeping them from falling.

Loki had instantly realized that he was asleep as he walked across the fog filled land. Someone else was here, of that much he was certain. He was surprised when suddenly out of nowhere strange structures appeared as the fog cleared. The next surprise came in the form of a girl running straight into him.

"Oh wow, I've never dreamed of a cute guy before." Vanessa said with a smile looking up at the green eyed Prince. She was a lovely young lady, barely in her teens, with long black hair and shinning silver eyes.

"Dream?" Loki said stepping back once they were stable.

"What else would you call this smart guy?" Vanessa asked placing her hands on her hips, but he didn't answer still looking confused. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand pulling him toward the rocking ship ride. "Come on, let's have some fun before I wake up."

"Wait, what is your name?" Loki asked as she pulled him along.

"Vanessa. What's your name?" Vanessa asked as she strapped in.

"Prince Loki Odinson of Asgard." Loki answered as he followed suit, strapping himself in as well.

"A Prince? Wow, my subconscious aims high, but that would explain the clothes." Vanessa said as the ride started up. Loki let out a startled yelp as they went higher and higher as Vanessa raised her hands in the air and squealed with joy. When the ride stopped Loki looked a little green around the gills. "Don't they have rides like this on Asgard?"

"No." Loki said leaning against the railing.

"Wait, you said Loki. You mean Norse mythology Loki?" Vanessa asked. "The god of mischief?"

"Yes, who else would I be?" He asked standing up again as Vanessa let out a low whistle then Vanessa got a strange feeling.

"I'm not dreaming am I?" Vanessa asked looking up at him.

"No, I don't believe you are and neither am I, this is something different, a type of connection." Loki said with a thoughtful look.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with my mutation." Vanessa commented as she walked over to some tables and sat down.

"Mutation?" Loki asked as he joined her.

"Yeah, a mutant is a human who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities. Human mutants are considered to be of the subspecies Homo sapiens superior, an evolutionary progeny of Homo sapiens, and are considered the next stage in human evolution, though whether this is true or not is a subject of much debate." Vanessa said then sucked in a deep breath to replace the air she had lost saying all that in one go then a wide smile sprang onto her face. "At least that's what I read. All I know now is that I can lift things with my mind."

"I was not aware that humans had such gifts." Loki commented.

"Well it has only recently gained notice. More and more of us appear every day." Vanessa said with a shrug. Then Vanessa suddenly asked a question that was prying on her mind. "Is it true that you have a kid who's a horse with eight legs?"

"What?!" Loki sputtered out then face palmed. "Are you talking about those ridiculous legends?"

"Well yeah. I read them once when I was six. They said you had a Wolf and a Snake to as well as the ruler of Hel." Vanessa replied still looking curious.

"You mortals sometimes come up with the strangest ideas, but no, I don't have any children although those beings do exist they are not of my make." He said running a hand through his hair.

"Oh." Vanessa said nodding her head then eyed him thoughtfully. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

"You didn't, I've been dealing with those silly legends for countless centuries. I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone from Asgard that started them." He said looking away.

"Why would they do that?" Vanessa asked cocking her head to the side. He eyed her for a moment before he decided that it could do no harm in talking to her.

"I am different than them. I am leaner, paler, and have dark hair, were as they had golden hair, are tanned, and usually muscled." Loki said bitterly. "I also prefer to use my magic and strategy instead of the favored brute force."

"Well that's just silly." Vanessa said vehemently. "So what if you don't look like them, what's wrong with that? And as for the strategy and magic, it sounds like you're really smart, that should be appreciated. Plus to be able to do magic, that must be so much fun." Loki felt a smile tugging at his lips as she defended him after she barely even knew him. She seemed like the kind that would fight for the underdog. "They shouldn't treat you like that."

"You certainly are quick to defend someone you barely know." Loki commented, his green eyes shining in amusement.

"What can I say? I don't take kindly to bullies." Vanessa said with a shrug. Suddenly Vanessa and Loki felt something strange. "I think I'm waking up, shoot." Vanessa said as things started to shift. "Will we meet again?"

"I do not know, but I hope we will." Loki said with a small smile

"Me too." Vanessa said returning his smile with one of her own before everything disappeared.

Vanessa woke with a start and stared up at the ceiling for a while. Then she shot out of bed and over to her bookshelf where she dug through them until she found what she was looking for.

It was a large blue leather journal with a dove in flight engraved in it. Pepper had gotten it for her when she turned thirteen saying that every teenage girl needed a journal and until then she had not written anything in it. She was waiting for the right inspiration and now she had it.

She ran over to her desk and leafed through it until she was at the beginning. There were no lines, just blank pages. She began by writing down the dream in vivid detail then she drew Loki. She took great care in this making sure that she got everything right. She looked down at the picture with a bright smile on her face.

Loki sat up in bed thinking over what had happened. He got up out of his bed and walked over to his bookshelf and started to look through the different titles until he pulled out the one he was looking for.

"Interesting." He mumbled to himself as he read.

Apparently what he and this girl Vanessa had experienced was called Dream telepathy, the ability to communicate telepathically with another person whilst one is dreaming, but whether he initiated it or it was her he could not tell. This only happened when the persons are somehow closely linked, but he was more than sure he had never seen this girl before.


	4. Chapter 4

Vanessa was writing her latest dream with Loki down as she glanced over at the picture she had drawn of them horseback riding. When he had learned that she didn't know how he had offered to teach her. She had had dreams of Loki almost once every week and they both came to an understanding that they were real, both of them in their respective worlds.

Her eyes landed on the charm silver bracelet that Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy had gotten her with a charm from each of them; a butterfly from Pepper with diamond chipped wings, a heart from her dad with a diamond chip hanging in the middle, a jet from Rhodey with a diamond chip in the middle, and a smiley face charm from Happy with a diamond chip in the middle all in silver, bit it was the other one that her Dad had given her that made her happy.

It was a rose charm with a diamond chip in the middle also in silver, bit it was what he said that made it special. He told her that he remembered that it was her mother, Sara Jones favorite flower. It proved to her that her mother hadn't just been a nameless face in a sea of women for her dad that he remembered and still thought about her.

She glanced up at her father who sat across from her looking up the Xavier School for the gifted on his computer. Her hair was now cut into a long bob.

They had called the school and after a few interviews she had been accepted. So with a heavy heart she said goodbye to Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy then too off on the plane they were now on to New York after making them all take a picture together. Of course the picture resulted in Happy, Tony, and Rhodey making funny faces while Pepper and Vanessa laughed.

"So, you looking forward to this?" Tony asked glancing up at her.

"Yeah, I'm really tired of having to concentrate on keeping it on the down low, and these migraines are getting longer and worse, I need help." Vanessa said as she sat her book down. They had been flying for a while and were close to landing now. "Plus my metabolism has gone crazy, have you noticed that I've been eating about two times the normal amount."

"Try three times." Tony muttered.

"Are you calling me fat?!" Vanessa asked in a dangerous tone.

"Well we're about to land, better strap in." Tony said nervously.

"Right." Vanessa drew out. The plane landed and they were met by sleek black expensive car.

"I thought a limo might be too much." Tony said as he hopped into the front seat.

"Yeah cause an Aston Martin One-77 is such a low profile car." Vanessa said as she sat in the passenger seat. Her things had already been delivered to the school ahead of her. Tony just smiled as he slipped his sun glasses on and took off out of the airfield and down the street.

In no time the school came into view and they pulled in through the gates which opened automatically. As they drove up the driveway she could see a few kids playing on the basketball court, some kids having a picnic under a tree, and a few friends having lunch on the bench.

Tony parked the car up front and they got out. They walked up to the front doors and were about to knock when they were opened before they could. A beautiful woman with dark skin and white hair stood there smiling at them. Looking out of the corner of her eye she could see Tony's eyes light up in interest causing her to roll her eyes.

"Hello Mr. and Miss Stark, I'm Ororo welcome to our school." She said with a smile as she held out her hand for both of them to shake. Tony, trying to be suave, brought her hand to his mouth and gave it a light kiss.

"Nice to meet you." Tony said with a wink. Vanessa rolled her eyes again as she stomped on his foot hard causing him to yelp. "Hey!"

"Oh no, not one of my future teachers, that is the last thing I need." Vanessa warned him. "No flirting."

"I was just saying hi." Stark defended himself.

"For you that is flirting." Vanessa remarked rolling her eyes.

"Please come in." Ororo said as she motioned for them into the grand foyer laughing softly.

"So what are the accelerated classes like here?" Stark asked.

"We offer a variety of college courses and you will be surprised that you are not the youngest of our college students." Ororo said as they walked.

"Really?" Vanessa asked in interest.

"Yes, our youngest in the college classes is thirteen." Ororo said leading them to the Professors office. "His mutation allows him to learn and retain at a higher rate than most. That's the case for most of our gifted students while others are naturally talented."

They came up to a large door and Ororo gently knocked on it then waited for the ok to enter.

"Welcome to my school." Xavier said with a kind smile when they stepped inside.

"Thank you for allowing me to attend." Vanessa said graciously.

"Yeah, nice place you got around here Chuck." Stark said plopping down in a seat as Vanessa shot him a look taking the other seat. Xavier just chuckled good naturedly.

"Thank you, I have put a lot of work into making this safe haven for mutants and you are more than happy to welcome you here Miss Stark." Xavier said. "I would like to know what you know of your powers if you would be so kind to elaborate."

"As far as I know I am able to move things with my mind. I believe it is called telekinesis." Vanessa said as she held up her hand and the pen in front of the Professor floated over to her. "I don't know the extent of my powers yet."

"Well that's what you're here for. One of my teachers, Dr. Jean Grey, is telekinetic as well; she will help you with your abilities." Xavier said. "We will show you how to control your powers and use them for good. We will also provide you with an education of the highest standards."

There was a knock on the door and an Asian girl came in with long black hair and brown eyes.

"Miss Stark, this is Jubilee, she'll show you around while I talk with your father." Xavier said. Vanessa stood up and followed Jubilee out of the office.

"It's really cool to meet you. I mean I've seen you in all sorts of magazines. You looked great on the cover of Seventeen." Jubilee gushed then blushed. "Sorry, I've never met a celebrity before."

"That's ok." Vanessa said with a smile. "So what's this place like?"

"You'll love it here." Jubilee said as she showed her the classrooms, cafeteria, gym, and the dorms. There was also a rec room with a pool table, ping pong, air hockey, a flat screen, and a game console. Some of the other kids ran over to say hi and meet the famous Stark daughter.

"Vanessa this is Bobby, John, Megan, and Piotr." Jubilee introduced them.

"Hey you're Tony Stark's kid." John said with a wide smile.

"Is that how everyone here is going to identify me?" Vanessa said rolling her eyes.

"More than likely." Megan said with a laugh.

"So I can never pass up a chance to play pool, anyone up to the challenge?" Vanessa said as she rubbed her hands together.

"Oh, you are so on." John said as he walked over and set the table up.

"Don't make any bets, John is the best player in the school." Piotr warned her.

"Well I'll give him a run for his money." Vanessa said with a confident smirk liking how easy it was to fall into step with this group. She was going to like it here no doubt.

"Having fun kiddo?" Stark said from the door way with Xavier next to him just as John took the winning shot.

"So much." Vanessa said with a laugh then introduced her star struck new friends to her father.

They spent the rest of the day touring the school and meeting her fellow students and teachers. They came up to a red head who was talking with a man wearing red sunglasses.

"Vanessa, this is Jean Grey and Scott Summers." Xavier said as they walked up to them. "Jean is the teacher who will show you how to use your powers. Jean this is Vanessa and her father Tony."

"I know, I've seen you both quite a few times before on the TV and such." Jean said as she and Scott shook hands.

"You are way too beautiful to be a teacher." Tony said with a wink as he kissed the back of Jean's hand and Vanessa saw the man tense. Vanessa rolled her eyes as she punched her father's arm.

"Seriously, you should not flirt with a girl when her boyfriend is standing right there." Vanessa snapped as Tony rubbed his arm.

"Well she might not be with him." Tony defended himself.

"Well she is." Scott said as he slipped his arm around Jean's waist.

"Oh." Tony said then started to walk off with Xavier following laughing lightly to himself. "So what else you got in this place?"

"And that's about as close to an apology as you'll get from him." Vanessa said as rubbed her temples. "Sorry."

"That's ok." Jean said with a laugh. "I look forward to teaching you."

"I look forward to being taught." Vanessa said with a wave as she followed her dad who was talking with Xavier in the hall. "This place is great."

"I'm glad you like it here, it's a nice place." Tony said as Vanessa walked him back out to the car.

"Yeah." Vanessa agreed as they stood next to the car. "You'll come and visit, right?"

"Miss me already huh?" Tony said with a smirk, but instead of replying Vanessa wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug surprising Tony. He wrapped his arms around her in return pressing kiss on the top of her head.

"I love you dad." Vanessa said softly.

"I love you to kid." Tony said.

Exchanges like these were hardly ever this mushy, but on rare occasions they made an exception. After a few more assurances of daily contact with each other of some kind Tony finally headed back to the airport. Vanessa watched him go until his car disappeared over the horizon.

"You ok?" Megan asked as she and Jubilee saw Vanessa wipe her eyes as she came into the rec room again.

"Yeah I'm fine." Vanessa said with a smile.

"How about we show you to your room?" Jubilee suggested. "Your stuff should all be there."

"Sounds good." Vanessa said and followed the two girls out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Vanessa, now seventeen, smiled excitedly as she entered the foggy dreamscape once again. With barely a thought it changed into a beautiful meadow filled with flowers with a lone oak tree standing in the center. Suddenly a pair of arms circled around her waist pulling her into a hug.

"Hello Loki." Vanessa said with a smile when he released her.

"Hello little Dove, it is good to see you again." He said with a smile as he looked around. Dove was his nickname for her because of her love for the beautiful birds. "This is a pleasant spot you've dreamed up."

"Yeah, when I was little my mother and I came to a field like this for picnics." Vanessa said still wrapped in Loki's arms as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"How are you enjoying your new school?" Loki asked.

"It has been wonderful." Vanessa said as she turned to face him then her face became troubled. "Loki, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, what would you like to know?" He asked as he held both of her hands in his.

"The scars around your lips, how did you get them?" Vanessa asked. Loki reached up and tentively touched his mouth were scars were visible above his upper lip and below his lower lip his face was pained.

"I did not know that you would be able to see them." He said softly. Vanessa gently reached up barely ghosting her hand over the scars and couldn't help, but to blush when Loki closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, his lips brushing her fingers. She wasn't too proud to admit that she had been falling for him for quite some time.

"What happened?" She asked gently.

"I made a bet with the dwarves Brokk and Eitiri, I lost." He said retaking her hands in both of his. "The penalty was to be my head, but I said they could only take my head if they harmed no other part of me. They could not so they sewed my mouth shut to teach me a lesson."

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Vanessa said her brows furrowed.

"It is in the past and right now I believe you said that you were going to sing for me again." Loki said with a smile. Since first she sang and danced for him he had not gotten enough. His compliments made her blush furiously and filled her with pride.

"Was I?" Vanessa said pretending that she couldn't recall, but one look at Loki's puppy dog face and she gave up the charade. "Ok, let me set up a place."

Vanessa led him down a path until they came upon a beautiful clearing and in the middle of the clearing there was a circle of stone pillars covered in vines and different colored flowers whose perfume filled the air with its heady scent as beautiful song birds perched on the pillars and petals fell all around them.

Loki leaned against one of the pillars as Vanessa took her spot in the center of the pillars turning softly as he clothes changed into a simple blue ballet costume with blue slippers on her feet.

It started out as a feeling

Which then grew into a hope

Which then turned into a quiet thought

Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder

'Til it was a battle cry

I'll come back when you call me

No need to say goodbye

Vanessa twirled around the pavilion dipping and turning as she sang while Loki watched, a soft smile playing along his lips completely entranced with the beauty before him.

Just because everything's changing

Doesn't mean it's never been this way before

All you can do is try to know who your friends are

As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light

You'll come back when it's over

No need to say goodbye

You'll come back when it's over

No need to say goodbye

Vanessa danced over to Loki pulling him into the rhythm which he took to like a swan to water. His hand slipped around her waist pulling her close making her heart skip as his other hand light, but firmly held her hand than wasn't resting on his shoulder.

Now we're back to the beginning

It's just a feeling and no one knows yet

But just because they can't feel it too

Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger

'Til they're before your eyes

You'll come back when they call you

No need to say goodbye

You'll come back when they call you

No need to say goodbye

Vanessa and Loki stood the song having ended starring into each other's eyes still holding each other close.


	6. Chapter 6

A year later found Vanessa sitting cross legged in the middle of a large room as objects orbited around her. Levitation gave her the ability to fly as well as manipulate objects to move as she willed them.

She could also generate what the professor called a psychic knife that could stun, injure, or kill. She also had a small amount of telepathy, but the Professor said that it was not enough to be of any use. She and Loki thought that it might be how they were meeting. That in her sleep it a came to life so to speak through Dream Telepathy.

Also new where the charms that she had added to her bracelet having decided to add one for every close friend she had, the ones that were important to her. For Bobby a snowflake, a flame for John, a starburst for Jubilee, a fairy for Megan, a sunflower for Jean, a wrench for Scott, a lightning bolt for Ororo, the X men symbol for Xavier, and for Piotr a paint brush and palette. All in silver and with diamond chips in various places.

"You're doing really well." Jean said as Vanessa lowered the furniture she had been using to practice and her eyes stopped glowing blue which was a side effect of using her powers.

"Thanks." Vanessa said as she stood up and stretched.

"You've come a long way." Jean said. "You are learning faster than I did when I first started."

"Well I'm lucky to have you for my teacher." Vanessa said with a smile. "You learned first and that makes it easier for me to learn from you."

"So you looking forward to your performance next week?" Jean asked as she handed Vanessa a bottle of water. Vanessa had received the part of Demeter in the production of CATS.

"So much, dad's even flying in for one of the performances along with Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy. They wanted to be at my first, but Rhodey was busy and they wanted to come together." Vanessa said.

"Well Scott and I will be there." Jean said with a smile.

"Really?!" Vanessa said in excitement.

"Yep. Scott just surprised me with the tickets." Jean replied.

"Awesome." Vanessa said with a sequel of delight.

'Vanessa, I'd like to see you in my office, you have a visitor.' The Professors voice sounded in her head.

"I have to go, the Professor says I have a visitor, see you later." Vanessa said walking.

"Have a good day." Jean said waving at her.

Vanessa walked down the hall at a brisk pace wondering who it was that had come to visit. Her dad would have not been so subtle and Happy always came with her dad. Rhodey and Pepper always called ahead of time so she really had no idea who it was. She knocked on the Professors door when she came to it.

"Come in." The Professors voice called out. Vanessa opened the door and walked in sending a curious look to the man sitting with his back to her. "Vanessa, I believe you know Mr. Odinson."

Loki stood up and turned around to face her, a mischievous smile on his face. He was wearing a button up grey green shirt with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up tucked into a pair of dark jeans with a dark belt and a pair of dark boots on his feet.

"Loki." Vanessa said with a smile as she ran over and hugged him. Loki laughed slightly returning the hug.

"Hello Little Dove." Loki said as they stood at arm length still holding each other's hands.

"It seems you've kept one of your abilities from me." The Professor said with a smile causing Vanessa to blush as she gave Loki a questioning look.

"Since you informed me of the Professors ability to read minds I thought it best to come clean so to speak. He would not have been able to read mine and I did not want to cause trouble." Loki explained even though he knew that he could have easily evaded the Professor he did want to put Vanessa in a difficult position.

"Oh." Vanessa said and gave the Professor a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"There is nothing to apologize for." The Professor said with a smile. "This Dream Telepathy sounds very interesting. From what I can tell you latent Telepathic abilities must manifest through your sub-consciousness when you sleep, but how you managed to connect to Mr. Odinson I do not know."

"Just lucky I guess." Vanessa said with a shrug causing Loki to blush as his smile grew.

"Well I'll leave it to you to show him around." Professor Xavier said.

"It was nice to meet you." Loki said with a small bow.

"You as well." Professor Xavier replied as Vanessa pulled Loki out of the office. She took him to the rec. room where her friends were messing around as usual.

"Hey guys, I want you to meet a friend of mine." Vanessa called out gaining their attention as she walked over to where they were sitting. "This is Loki, Loki this is Bobby, Peter, John, Megan, and Jubilee."

"Nice to meet you all." He said with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, you to." Bobby said standing up and shaking Loki's hand. "Are you going to be coming to school here to?"

"Oh no, I'm just here to visit Vanessa." Loki replied.

"Are you a mutant?" John asked.

"Yes, I am." Loki replied as Vanessa shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "I can make illusions."

"Can you show us?" Megan asked. Loki nodded then concentrated and in a shimmer of golden light another Loki appeared next to him. He decided that this would be enough to convince them.

"Wow." Jubilee said as she got up and slowly reached out to touch the illusion Loki, but her hand went through him then disappeared. "That is so cool."

"So what are your abilities?" Loki asked. Megan took off her jacket and allowed her iridescent, translucent wings, like those of a dragonfly's wing to spread out.

"I can also produce what I call "pixie dust" that causes hallucinations." Megan said.

"I make these plasma explosions like fireworks." Jubilee said as she made her hands spark.

"I can make and control ice." Bobby said making a snowball in his hands.

"I can cover my entire body in a type of organic metal." Peter said as the metal spread all over him then receded.

"I control fire." John said flipping out his lighter and forming a fireball.

"As much fun as show and tell is, we were about to go to lunch, you guys want to come?" Jubilee asked. "I got permission to go a-wall."

"Sure." Vanessa replied.

They all piled into a black Suburban with Vanessa driving and Loki in the passenger seat while the rest got into the back. Vanessa had already shown Loki most of the wonders of her world as he had shown her his so he was able to play it cool.

"Welcome to the best food and fun joint ever." Vanessa said as she pulled into Dave and Busters. The group went over to a large table and sat down ordering their drinks from the waiter. "Hope you like pizza, that's what we always order when we get here."

"I've never had it." Loki said earning surprising gasps from the others.

"Where are you from? Another planet?" Megan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Megan, be nice." Vanessa said rolling her eyes.

"So Loki, where are you from?" Jubilee asked as they ate.

"I live in Malibu. I'm the closest neighbor to Vanessa, that's how we met." Loki answered easily.

"What's up with your name?" John asked.

"John! That's rude." Jubilee said popping him in the shoulder.

"What?! I was just curious." John defended.

"That's not the point; you sounded insulting." Bobby shot back.

"Welcome to the family Loki, if we're comfortable enough to fight in front of you then that automatically makes you one of us." Megan said with a laugh.

"I didn't mean to cause a stir." Loki said as he watched the three continue to go at it.

"No it's ok. This is pretty much normal for them." Vanessa said with a shrug. "Guys cool it. You're making Loki uncomfortable."

"Sorry Loki. John's is just too curious for his own good." Megan said with a pointed glare at John who stuck his tongue out at her.

"No it's ok, my parents were into Norse mythology." Loki said with a smile. "My brother was even named Thor."

Vanessa barely contained her laughter as Loki sent her a sly look the others missed.

"Cool." Bobby said then the guys started to pelt him with all sorts of questions, trying to get to know him better.

"Enough Q&A, let's go play some games." Jubilee said as she stood up and ran over to the large game room.

"Wow, you're really good at these." Peter commented. Over time Loki had amassed so many tickets that they wrapped around his neck quite a few times.

"All in the wrist." He replied rolling the skeet ball. He was having a wonderful time. It was nice to be so easily accepted into their group.

"Awesome." Bobby said.

"You might just put this place out of business this way." John said laughing.

"Loki seems to have taken up with the guys really well." Jubilee said as she leaned over one of the chairs of the race car game.

"That's good." Vanessa replied, the game having ended.

"He's cute to." Megan said winking at Vanessa who blushed hard.

"Really, I hadn't noticed." Vanessa said avoiding eye contact.

"You like him." They said together.

"What? No way." Vanessa stuttered moving onto the next game. "We're just friends."

"I'd at least give it a shot. I've never seen a guy quit like him." Jubilee said. "I think he'd be real good for you."

"Yeah, maybe." Vanessa conceded as the boys walked over.

"Come on, we're going to spend our tickets." Bobby said happily as they went over to the prize table. The girls went back over to the table to wait for the guys. They all got a few things until only Loki was left with tickets.

"What are you going to get?" Peter asked Loki who was smiling over at Vanessa. She was telling a story it seemed to the others and using exaggerated hand gestures. The table erupted in laughter and Vanessa noticed Loki's gaze. She sent him a smile and a wave which he returned.

"Earth to Loki." John said waving his hand in Loki's face.

"What?" Loki asked jerking out of his trance.

"What were you looking at?" John asked mischievously.

"Nothing I was just thinking of what I wanted to get." He replied with a blush.

"Sure, right, cause the prize table is over there with Vanessa." Peter said nudging Loki in the ribs making him blush harder.

"Come on guys leave him alone." Bobby said as John and Peter laughed while taking their stuff back to the table. "Sorry about them, sometimes they don't know when to stop."

"It's ok." Loki said waving him off as he looked at all of the prizes before his eyes landed on a fuzzy light tan teddy bear with a large sheer chocolate brown plaid bow. It seemed out of place with all of the more shiny prizes that were on the shelves. "I'd like that one."

"Are you sure?" The girl at the counter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." He said with a smile handing over his tickets as the girl retrieved the bear, dusted it off, and handed it to Loki. "Thank you."

"You still have some left over, actually you have a lot left over." The girl said holding up a bundle of left over tickets.

"Oh right." Loki said looking around then spotted a little girl standing next to him at the counter. "Give the rest to her."

"Really?" The little girl asked with wide eyes at all of the tickets.

"Sure why not." Loki said with a smile rubbing the little girls head as she squealed in delight. "Can I have a bag for this?"

"Sure." The counter girl said handing him one.

"Thank you." Loki said putting the bear in the bag before walking back to the table with Bobby. They spent a few more hours talking and laughing before it was time to go home.

"Will you be able to visit again?" Vanessa asked as she walked Loki to the end of the drive way.

"It takes quite a bit of my powers so it will not be too often and I must take my responsibilities at home into consideration, but I will come as often as I can." Loki said with a smile as he held out a small bag to her. "I thought you might like this."

Vanessa opened the package and pulled out a cute teddy bear.

"Oh Loki, it's adorable." Vanessa said with a smile as she hugged him. "Thank you."

"I had a great time tonight. Your friends are quite nice." Loki said as they pulled apart.

"Well that's one way of putting it." Vanessa said with a laugh thinking of her crazy friends.

"Good bye Vanessa." Loki said softly and started to walk away.

"Wait." Vanessa called out grabbing his arm. He turned to her with one eye raised. "I was going to tell you the next time we shared a dream, but now I can tell you in person. I got one of the leads in the musical 'CATS', I'm playing Demeter, and was wondering if you'd like to come see me?"

"I'd love to." Loki said. Smiling brightly Vanessa dug into her purse and pulled out a ticket.

"It has the address and everything on it." Vanessa beamed.

"I look forward to your performance." Loki said then he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Goodbye Vanessa."

"Good bye Loki." Vanessa replied as he walked away and seemed to fade away right before her eyes. She hugged the teddy bear to her chest as she walked back up to the mansion, a dreamy smile on her face.


	7. Chapter 7

Vanessa was walking down the street grumbling to herself about faulty wiring and never allowing another person near her bike. She had been riding back to school through the streets of lower Manhattan when the stupid thing had given out on her.

She knew she shouldn't have let James near her bike, but she had to give him the benefit of the doubt when he asked if he could practice giving her bike a checkup before Scotts test. She had called a car to come pick her up and was walking to the corner where she would wait for it to come.

She had just turned a corner when she spotted the most unique bike she had ever seen. It was like a mash up of machine, chains, and skulls. She walked over to it examining it closely letting out a low whistle. She reached out about to touch it when she heard the sounds of a fight in the closed antique shop behind her.

She walked over to the window and peered in. Her eyes widened as she dodged to the side and a blue flaming mass was thrown through the window where she had been standing sending glass everywhere. She was still on the ground watching wide eyed as what seemed to be a skeleton bathed in blue flames wearing biker clothes stood to his feet in the center of the street.

Three more figures jumped through the broken window snarling like rabid dogs. They were extremely pale, had razor sharp teeth, and amber glowing eyes.

"You should not have made Roarke angry." One of the creatures hissed.

"Ask me if I care." The skeleton said in a gravelly voice. That's when one of the men noticed her and faster than she could blink was standing right above her.

"Look what I found." The man said grabbing Vanessa and haling her to her feet. "An innocent."

"Let her go." The skeleton demanded.

"I think not Ghost Rider." The leader said calmly as he took hold of Vanessa." But if you were to give us back your powers than maybe…"

"Oh to heck with you all." Vanessa said getting agitated. She elbowed the leader holding her in the gut them rammed her head back slamming him in the face causing him to let her go. She swiftly turned around and willed her psionic blades onto her hands. "Don't you losers know how to treat a lady?"

"Get them." The leader shouted as he cupped his bleeding nose.

"You should leave." The Ghost Rider said unraveling his chain.

"No way, this is going to be fun." Vanessa said as she started to duck and dodge the attacks. They pulled out wicked looking weapons and seemed the secrete darkness.

She stabbed the man who had spotted her in the stomach and watched in amazement as he turned to ash. The Ghost Rider took out the other man and was now facing the leader who had managed to throw the Ghost Rider into a truck. He was going in for the kill, but Vanessa had other ideas.

Vanessa raised her hand stopping him and throwing him back into a brick wall causing it to crack with his impact. She held him there as the Ghost Rider pulled himself up from the wreckage. He pulled out his chain whipped it around his head twice before slashing it through the leader reducing him to ash.

He wrapped the chain back around his shoulder across his chest before turning to face Vanessa who starred back at him.

"See that was fun." Vanessa said with a smile. He didn't reply as he walked over to his bike. "So you do this stuff a lot?"

"All the time." He replied throwing his leg over the bike. "What were you doing out here?"

"Long story short my bike broke down due to a faulty student mechanic and my own stupidity for not checking his work." Vanessa said with shrug then gestured to his bike. "Nice bike by the way."

"You got someone coming for you?" He asked revving his engine causing it to erupt in blue flames.

"Awesome." Vanessa said before she answered him. "Yeah, I got a car coming for me and my bike."

"Good." He replied then revved his engine again and took off.

Vanessa watched him go letting out another low whistle. She made to walk back to the corner when she stepped on something. She bent down and picked up a slightly singed wallet and opened it up.

"Johnny Blaze." She read off the driver's license. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a car honked as it pulled up. She pocketed the wallet and walked over to the car. They loaded her bike in the small trailer and then returned to school.

The next day Vanessa drove her silver jaguar up to the warehouse style apartment building. Walking inside she rode the lift up to the top floor wallet in hand, hoping that the address wasn't a fake or something. When the lift doors opened she was surprised to find herself directly stepping into the apartment instead of a hall or something.

"Hello?" Vanessa called out.

"What are you doing here?" A voice to her right demanded making her yelp. She turned around to face Johnny Blaze who was staring at her with a mixture of shock, anger, confusion, and mistrust.

"I found your wallet." Vanessa said holding it out for him to take. "Did you have to startle me like that?!"

"You know who I am now." He said ignoring her question as he snatched his wallet from her. "You know I'm the Ghost Rider."

"Wow, so this is what you look like when you're not all…" Vanessa gestured vaguely around her head making a fire noise. "You know on fire."

"What do you want now that you know my secret?" He demanded still untrusting.

"Well you know I'm a mutant so nothing, that's kind of why I came. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't spill my secret." Vanessa said then held out her hand. "I won't tell who you are if you won't tell what I am." Johnny eyed her for a moment before nodding and shaking her hand. The relief on Vanessa's face was instant. "Thank you, if the media got a hold that I was a mutant than that would be bad."

"Afraid your stocks would drop." Johnny smarted off.

"No." Vanessa glared at him. "The school that I go to is for mutants and they don't need that kind of publicity."

"Well don't worry Miss Stark, your secrets safe with me." Johnny said then seemed to remember his manners. "Can I offer you a drink or something?"

"No thanks, I got to get back to classes." Vanessa said walking back to the lift. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a card. "By the way, if you ever need any help come by the school. You may not be a mutant, but we know what it's like to be different."

"Thanks." Johnny said taking the card, doubting that he's need it, but you never knew. Vanessa waved before the lift doors closed.


	8. Chapter 8

Loki couldn't take his eyes off of her form as she moved around the stage in time with the music along with the rest of the talented cast. The tight fitting costume accented her figure generously. Her movements were slow a sleek with all the grace of a real cat. She really was brilliant.

Vanessa took the final bow with the rest of the cast of CATS all smiles. Their opening night had been a grand success. They all exited the stage exchanging congratulations and such as those with backstage passes came.

"Vanessa, you were amazing." Jean said with a smile as she hugged her and handed her a bouquet of blue lilies.

"Thank you, these are beautiful." Vanessa said as she breathed in the flowers sent.

"Did you have fun?" Scott asked.

"So much, I love singing and dancing on stage. It's one of the most brilliant feelings in the world." Vanessa said with a bright smile.

"Loki." Jean said spotting the tall man.

"Ms. Grey, Mr. Summers." Loki greeted with a nod. Vanessa smiled widely at him and hugged him.

"You came." Vanessa said.

"Of course I did." Loki said as he handed her bouquet of rainbow roses.

"Oh, Loki they're lovely." Vanessa said.

"You were beautiful up there." Loki said starring into her eyes.

"Well we have to get back to school, Ororo can only hold down the fort for so long." Scott said and they exchanged goodbyes before leaving Vanessa and Loki alone.

"How about some dinner?" Loki asked with a smile.

"I'd love to, just let me change." Vanessa said. Once she was ready Loki took her to a quaint Italian restaurant. They walked arm in arm into the restaurant where they were seated in a quiet little corner.

"You really love spaghetti." Loki commented as Vanessa let out a hum of happiness while she hate.

"It's true, Italian food is my all-time favorite." Vanessa said with a large smile. "How are you enjoying your ravioli?"

"It's great." Loki said eating another bite. "I've never had food like this before."

"What do you usually eat back home?" Vanessa asked.

"Lots and lots of meat." Loki said rolling his eyes making Vanessa giggle. They talked well into the night and Vanessa as well as Loki had never had more fun.


	9. Chapter 9

Vanessa was now eighteen and life could not have been better. Jean had taught her well and her powers were under control and she had learned what she could really do. Everyday her powers grew stronger and the Professor said that she might be able to gain new levels in her mutation sometime during her lifetime.

Loki also made it a point to visit as often as he could when he had enough energy and he wasn't needed in Asgard. He had made quick friends with her friends and seemed to have a wonderful time when he was with them. Johnny came by a few times to talk about bikes and such also going to see the Professor a few times. Reed would skype with her about various projects and ideas that he had as well.

She had also met two other heroes called Spiderman and Daredevil during one of nighty escapades through the city. She had added a charm for each of them. A silver web for Spiderman aka Peter Parker who she had met in a burning building while saving the tenants and interlacing d's with small horns for Daredevil aka Matt Murdock who helped her bring down a drug gang targeting kids each with diamond chips.

She had just finished up with the X Jet routine checkup after Scott and Ororo's mission and stepped into the elevator when a man came out of one of the rooms then backed into the elevator. He looked slightly panicked and tense. Suddenly he took a couple of sniffs of the air then turned around until he was facing Vanessa.

Neither of them moved just staring at each other waiting for the other to make a move, but the door dinged open and he glanced behind him like he heard something. He gave one last glance at Vanessa before darting away. She remembered that he had been the man that Ororo and Scott had brought in along with the girl named Rouge. She pressed the button going back to the basement and ran down the hall to where he had been.

"Ms. Grey?" Vanessa called out as she made her way into the infirmary. "Jean?!" There was no way she'd let him out without a guide. Jean was leaning against a table holding a hand to her throat coughing. Vanessa looked to where a pitcher of water was and telekinetically poured a glass of water from it then sent it over to Jean. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Jean said drinking down the water.

"What happened?" Vanessa asked. "Did that man do this?"

"He woke and grabbed me. I think he's been captured before." Jean said massaging her throat. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No, we met in the elevator and a nice awkward silence before he ran. I think the Professor was leading him to him." Vanessa said with a smile.

"This has just not been my week." Jean mumbled still rubbing her neck.

"Oh that reminds me. How did your speech to the senate go?" Jean gave her an exasperated look. "That bad huh?"

"You could say that." Jean laughed then she stopped and nodded her head.

"The Professor has him, he's calling me up." Jean said as she walked out of the infirmary followed by Vanessa.

"Well that sounds like fun, I'm going to go bother Jubes and Megan." Vanessa said stepping into the elevator. "They say there's a new girl they're showing around."

"Have fun and try not to scare her." Jean said walking to the Professors office.

"I promise nothing." Vanessa said as she ran off the opposite way. She found her friends leading around a girl that must have been Rouge.

"Hey Vanessa come meet our newest member." Jubilee called out. Vanessa ran over in a bounce jog stopping in front of them with a large smile.

"Hello, I'm Vanessa." Vanessa said holding out her hand. Rouge shook it with a gloved hand returning the smile.

"I'm Rouge." She replied. "Are you Vanessa Stark?"

"Yep, the one and only." Vanessa replied. "But we like to keep it quiet. The last thing this place need is paparazzi."

"I won't tell anyone." Rogue promised.

"Hey don't you guys have class?" Vanessa asked. Megan and Jubilee exchanged panicked looks grabbed Rouge and ran down the hall shouting their goodbyes over their shoulders as they ran. Vanessa laughed as she headed for the garage since she had already finished her lessons for the day.

-0-

Vanessa was sitting cross legged beside a beautiful bike wearing a pair of knee length shorts, a blue tank top, and a pair of tennis shoes her hair pulled back into a high ponytail as all sorts of tools floated around her. In the background 'Two Steps from Hell' was playing full blast. She had a contemplative look on her face as she lifted her hand and a tool floated into it. She was covered in grease and a dirty rag had been thrown over her shoulder.

Sighing to herself she tapped on a blue screen that was lying flat on the ground next to her and a 3D image of the motor came up. She reached into the image and started to pull it apart before her eyes lit up in realization and she delved back into the engine.

A tap on the top of her head brought her out of her thoughts and looking up she saw the man from the elevator. The tools sailed back to their proper spots as the music turned down with a wave of her hand.

"Can I help you?" Vanessa asked.

"What are you doing to that bike?" He asked.

"Oh, so glad you asked." Vanessa said as she stood up wiping her hands with her rag. "See that button?"

"Yeah." He nodded as he saw the button on the handle of the bike.

"Well if you were driving this bike and pressed that button, let's just say that nitro has got nothing on what this bike can do." Vanessa said with a smile then held out her hand. "I'm Vanessa Stark."

"Logan." He replied shaking her hand. "Sorry if I scared you in the elevator."

"Oh that's ok." Vanessa said with a shrug as she started to clean up. "So what can you do?"

"What?" He asked.

"Well, I'm telekinetic, you know, I can manipulate things with my mind, what can you do?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh, I got a healing factor and enhanced senses according to Chuck." He replied as he looked the bike over. "Oh and these."

"Wow." Vanessa said in a startled voice as he made a fist and metal claws popped out. She took hold of his wrist examining the claws. "Adamantium, that's strong stuff, must hurt when they come out."

"Every time." He said sliding them back in.

"That stinks." Vanessa said causing him to snort out a laugh. "So you know anything about bikes?"

"Yeah." He said.

"Good, you can come down here and help me out sometime." Vanessa said. "Not a lot of people are as mechanically inclined as I am and Scott is kind of uptight."

"Sounds good." He said and they fell into an easy routine of working on things in the garage never really talking about anything, but enjoying the time none the less.

-0-

Vanessa walked into the dorm room she shared with Jubilee and Megan from the shower and jumped onto her bed. Her phone rang causing her to groan as she turned over toward her nightstand and snatched her phone up.

"Hey dad, what's up?" Vanessa asked with a smile looking into the screen at her father.

"Nothing much, just making sure you're not up to anything." He replied off handedly.

"Please." Vanessa said rolling her eyes. "I'm always up to something."

"That's my girl." Tony said with a smile. "So how's the bike coming?"

"All done and it is completely awesome." Vanessa said as she started to type the specs up in the phone and sent it to him. "What think you?"

"I think you are very lucky to have inherited my astounding brain." He said.

"Yeah…thank god I got my mom's good looks though, can't imagine going through life looking like you." Vanessa said with a large smile.

"Ha ha." Tony said rolling his eyes just as the door to the room opened and Rogue peeked in.

"Oh…um…I was told to come here…" She trailed off looking nervous.

"Awesome, our final bunkmate." Vanessa said with a smile. "Come on in, your bed is the one over there."

"Thanks." Rogue said.

"Hey dad, going to have to cut the love fest short." Vanessa said into the phone.

"Ok kiddo, call you later." He said.

"Oh, and dad, don't forget its Pepper's birthday tomorrow." Vanessa said quickly. She had already sent her a pair of tear drop sapphire earrings which would arrive beautifully wrapped tomorrow.

"Crap." Stark said and she could hear him scrambling around.

"Dad, calm down. Go to that boutique called Alice's Accessories, there is a blue scarf with a darker blue embroidery of flowers and butterflies along the edges that she hinted at wanting, they should still be open." Vanessa said rolling her eyes.

"Right, you're a life saver kid." Stark said as he grabbed his wallet and ran out of the house.

"I know dad, bye." Vanessa said.

"Bye." Stark replied.

"Sorry about that." Vanessa said as she hung the phone up. "He is always forgetting stuff no matter how much JARVIS and I remind him."

"That's ok." Rogue said as she sat awkwardly on her new bed.

"We didn't have a lot of chance to talk before. How are you liking mutant high?" Vanessa asked as she pulled out a bag of jelly beans from her nightstand, took a few, and then floated some to Rogue with her telekinesis. .

"Thanks, it's really nice here." Rogue said as she ate some of the candy. "How did you do that?"

"I'm telekinetic like Dr. Grey, means I can move things with my mind." Vanessa answered. "What about you?"

"I don't really know, when I touch people something happens and they get hurt." Rogue said looking away. "I can't control it so I have to keep covered up."

"I'm sorry." Vanessa said sympathetically. "I bet the Professor will be able to help you, these things just take time. It took two years of intense training for me to get my powers under control."

"Really?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah. I had the worse migraines and sometimes things would start to float around me without me even meaning for them to, broke a lot of things when I was on an emotional high to." Vanessa said as she caused the jelly beans to swirl around the room in a colorful pattern.

"Oh candy." Jubilee said as she and Megan came in. Jubilee scooped a handful out of the air and jumped on her bed without missing a beat.

"Hey Rogue, Vanessa." Megan said with a smile as Vanessa floated the candy around to her.

"So is Rogue your real name or…" Vanessa trailed off once everyone had settled down.

"My name is Marie, but a prefer Rogue." Rogue answered.

"So you already have a codename cool." Jubilee said with a smile.

"A what?" She asked.

"Well everyone here has a nickname to describe their powers most of the time or something about themselves like a regular nickname." Megan answered. "Like mine is Pixie cause of my wings."

"My name is my codename." Jubilee said.

"I'm Dove." Vanessa said.

"Dove?" Rogue said in confusion.

"It's a nickname, Loki, a friend of mine gave me cause of how much I liked them." Vanessa said with a small blush.

"When are you two just going to admit you're in love a make out already?" Jubilee said with a roll of her eyes making Vanessa's face erupt in a violent blush.

"I already told you, we're just friends." Vanessa grumbled.

"No. Bobby and I are friends; you and Loki are two stubborn idiots in love and too oblivious to see it." Jubilee said with a snort.

"Anyway, most come up with them because they want to be X-men someday." Megan said changing the subject.

"X-men?" Rogue asked. Megan smiled as she told her all about the x-men until it was time to go to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

"Come on, it'll be fun." Vanessa said as she pulled Loki out onto the ice. She had dreamed up a beautiful winter wonderland for them and a large frozen lake was perfect for ice skating.

"I'm coming." Loki said with a laugh.

They began to skate around the lake talking softly and exchanging smiles as the laughed. While they skated their hands would brush against each other until Loki took her hand and threaded their fingers together making Vanessa's heart stutter. She smiled up at him as he smiled down at her continue their skate around the lake.

Loki sped up a little pulling her with him and turned so he was skating backwards and holding both of her hands in his.

"Show off." Vanessa said with a giggle when Loki winked at her pulling her close as the coasted to a stop. He gazed softly down at her tucking a piece of hair behind her ear allowing his hand to linger, his thumb stroking her cheek.

"I have something for you." He said still gazing into her eyes as he pulled back and held out a necklace to her. It was a dove in flight that was engraved into rainbow colored crystal heart the size of a quarter hanging from a strong thin silver chain with small silver beads and crystal chips intermediately strung sparsely along it.

"Loki, it's beautiful." Vanessa said. It didn't even occur to her that she would not have it outside of their dream telepathy connection.

"Turn around." Loki said and Vanessa did so lifting her hair out of the way. He reached his arms around her and secured the necklace, his fingertips grazing the back of her neck causing her to shiver. Once it was clasped she let her hair fall and turned back to face him. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you Loki." Vanessa said as she stood on the tips of her skates and kissed his cheek. He took her hand in his again a bright smile spread across his face as they resumed their skating their hands intertwined together.


	11. Chapter 11

Vanessa smiled as she woke up and there hanging around her neck was the necklace Loki had given her. She placed her hand over it her smile growing as she thought about him. There was a rustle in the bed adjacent to her and she rolled over in time to see Rogue sneak out of the dorm room.

Her curiosity peaked she rolled out of bed, grabbed her large bathrobe, and followed her to Logan's room where she arrived just in time to see him wake up from his nightmare and stab her. She heard a shrill scream then realized that it was hers.

"Help me, somebody help." Logan called out in fear not knowing what to do.

Vanessa ran into the room not sure what to do herself as Rogue reached up and touched Logan's face. The transfer was almost instant as her wounds healed, but Logan fell to the ground in a seizure. By this time other people had gathered outside of the room starring in shock at what Rogue had done.

"Someone get a teacher, now!" Vanessa ordered as Rogue ran out of the room.

"Shouldn't we hold him down or put something in his mouth?" One of the students asked.

"No, that does more harm than good." Vanessa said as she got between him and the furniture so he wouldn't injure himself by hitting against it, but realized that that was a moot point. "Hand me a pillow."

Another kid grabbed a pillow and handed to her to put under his head. Soon some teachers came in and Vanessa explained what had happened.

"We need to turn him on his side." Jean said and Vanessa helped her to do so as the other students were taken back to their rooms. "Vanessa help me get him into bed." Vanessa and Jean floated him onto the bed and kept him on his side until he calmed down. "I think he's ok now, you should get back to bed."

"Ok." Vanessa said with a nod.

"Vanessa, you did a good job." Scott patted her on the back.

"Thanks." Vanessa said with a smile. She was walking down the hall when she heard the muffled crying. She followed it until she found Rogue curled up in a tight ball on the window seat at the end of the hall. Vanessa walked over and gently placed her hand on her shoulder. "Rogue."

"Don't touch me." Rogue said with a cry as she flinched back away from Vanessa. Sighing softly to herself as she took off her robe and handed it to Rogue who wrapped it tightly around herself. Vanessa sat across from Rogue and they stayed silent for a while. "Is he ok?"

"Yes, he'll be fine." Vanessa said with a nod.

"I didn't mean…" She trailed off with a sob.

"Rogue, you had to or you would have died. You didn't do anything wrong." Vanessa said earnestly.

"What will everyone else think about me now?" Rogue asked.

"They know what happened Rogue. They won't think any different of you." Vanessa said as she stood up and walked over to her and gave her a hug being careful of her skin. "Now come on, it's way too early for these heart to heart talks."

Vanessa and Rogue walked down back to their dorm where Jubilee and Meagan had already fallen back asleep.

"Vanessa." Rogue said softly as they got into the respective beds.

"Yeah?" Vanessa yawned.

"Thank you." Rogue said.

"No problem." Vanessa said and then they followed the other girls into sleep, her hand clutching the necklace.

-0-

Vanessa walked down the hall in the schools high-tech basement looking for her phone when she saw the Professor going into Cyrebro with Logan. Scott, Ororo, and Jean were standing on the outside while the Professor explained about the device.

"What's going on?" Vanessa asked.

"Rogue is gone." Jean said.

"What?! When?!" Vanessa asked.

"We just found out right now, when was the last time you saw her?" Scott asked.

"She was sitting under the tree with the bench and I was going to talk with her, but Bobby got there first so I gave them some space." Vanessa said as Logan came back out and the doors closed.

"Who's Bobby?" Logan asked.

"He's a good kid, I doubt he had anything to do with her leaving." Ororo said.

"I'll go and ask him if he knows anything." Vanessa said, but before she left the Professor came out.

"That will now be necessary Miss Stark, I've found her. She's at the train station." The Professor said.

"Where is it?" Logan asked.

"A few miles west from here." The Professor answered and Logan started to walk away. "Logan, you can't leave the mansion. It's just the opportunity that Magneto needs."

"Listen, I'm the reason she took off." Logan said.

"We had a deal." The Professor said.

"She's alright, she's just upset." Ororo said to Logan.

"Storm Cyclopes find her see if you can talk to her." The Professor said and they walked away. Logan walked angrily away from the Professor and Jean until he was at the elevator. Vanessa stopped the doors from closing and jumped inside.

"You're going to need a fast pair of wheels if you're going to get to her." Vanessa said with a smile as she held up the keys to the motorcycle.

"I like you kid." Logan said with a smirk as he took the keys.

"I know, I'm awesome like that." Vanessa said with a large smile and as soon as the elevator doors opened he darted down the hall to the garage. "And don't forget to push the button Max." She walked down the hall and ran into Bobby. "Hey Bobby, you wouldn't happen to know why Rogue left would you?"

"No, I was supposed to meet her for lunch, but I never saw her." He said.

"What about when you two were sitting under the tree?" Vanessa asked.

"I haven't seen her all day." Bobby said, then was called away by some friends.

"Then who was with her under the tree?" Vanessa asked herself as she walked the opposite way and rounded the corner just in time to see something impossible. There went Bobby walking out the front doors. She followed 'Bobby' out the front doors into the courtyard. "You know, Bobby has this kind of shady dark spot on his right jawline, but it's not really noticeable unless you're looking for it."

"Is that what gave me away?" 'Bobby' asked turning around with a smirk.

"Well that and the fact that I saw Bobby walking the opposite way just a bit ago." Vanessa said as she pointed her hand and grabbed 'Bobby' levitating him the air. "I think we should go have a nice long talk with the Professor."

"That's what you think." 'Bobby' said in a feminine voice as he started to change her form rapidly. Vanessa struggled, but couldn't hold on and she dropped her.

The woman ran at her throwing a punch, but Vanessa ducked and delivered an uppercut to the now blue woman's sternum. Rapid blows were exchanged by both until Vanessa really started to get angry and chanced to use her psychic knife, but even with the glowing blue blade encasing her right hand she was no match for the far more experienced woman and far more under handed.

They were locked together when Vanessa felt a sting in the back of her neck where the woman had injected a needle into her. Vanessa saw dark spots as she slumped to the ground.

"You cheated." Vanessa grumbled then saw the small needle and plunger. "Where were you even hiding that?!"

"You're good kid, just not good enough." She said before she walked away leaving Vanessa behind.

Vanessa managed stay awake long enough to get herself back into the school where she was found unconscious in the middle of the foyer and taken to the medical wing. Vanessa groggily came to and found the Professor being brought in. They told her what had happened and she told them about the blue lady. She was just getting ready to leave when Jean and Scott came back into the med room.

"We know where Magneto is going, but we need you to stay here and watch over the Professor." Jean said as she gathered supplies.

"Ok, I'll take care of him." Vanessa said nodding her head as she watched them leave and heard the X Jet take off soon after. She set down next to the Professors bed and took one of his hands in hers. "I was told that talking to a coma patient helps so here we go…"

It was a long while later when she heard the X Jet once again and put down the computer pad she had been reading Shakespeare, a favorite of the Professor's, from and darted off to the hanger. They were carting Logan off, but he was fine and Rogue was safe and sound with them.

-0-

Smiling at Rogue and her new 'boyfriend' pleasantly, Vanessa chuckled as she watched the launch of the rocket Reed was currently on. He had been so excited when he told her he had gotten the grant, but when he told her who it was from she became skeptical and told him to watch his back around Vic.

Shaking her head she made her way to the garage smiling a bit to herself. Stepping into the garage, she smiled at the motorcycle she had spent most of her stay at the mansion working on that just happened to belong to Scott. Grabbing a helmet, she revved up the engine, making sure it had plenty of gas before pushing it outside.

Imagining Scott's annoyance, she smiled wider. Kicking up the stand, she leaned on the seat, and crossed her arms. The door opened several minutes later, and Vanessa looked up, smiling at Logan's surprised expression.

"Thought you could use a ride." Vanessa said with a smile as he walked down the steps.

"Won't Scott be mad, that is his bike after all?" Logan said.

"Yeah, that's just a bonus." Vanessa said with a wink as she handed him the helmet and the keys. "You better come back, I'd hate to have to drag you back here on Rogue's account."

"I'll be back, watch out for her for me will you?" He asked.

"Of course, you can trust me." Vanessa said as he got on the bike.

"Be good kid." He said revving the bike.

"Never." Vanessa replied then watched him take off then walked up the front steps of the school just as Scott walked out.

"Was that my bike?" Scott asked.

"Yep." Vanessa said popping her P.

"How did her even get the keys?" Scott said as he searched his pockets then his head snapped to Vanessa, but she was already making her getaway. "VANESSA!"

"You'll never catch me alive." Vanessa yelled as she ran away.


	12. Chapter 12

Vanessa walked into her dream connection with Loki, but could not seem to find him in the forest she had appeared in.

"Loki?" Vanessa called out.

"Up here." She heard him say from above. Looking up she saw him lounging on a tree branch his arms crossed over his chest. Vanessa climbed up until she was on the branch next to him, and then noticed the look on his face.

"Loki, are you ok?" Vanessa asked softly.

"What do you think of me?" Loki asked turning his head away from her.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked confused.

"I mean what do you think of my character how I am, if I'm someone others want to be around, if I'm…if I'm a good friend." Loki said with a shrug.

"Oh, that easy." Vanessa said with a laugh. "You're smart, funny, and really sweet with a streak of mischievousness a mile long and a mile wide. I personally love being around you and you are my absolute best friend ever."

"You consider me your best friend?" Loki said looking at her in shock.

"Well yeah, you've helped me get through some hard things in my life and I feel safe enough to tell you everything and anything." Vanessa said with a shrug. "If that isn't a best friend then I don't know what is."

Loki took her hand in his and kissed the back of it.

"Thank you Vanessa." He said with a large smile making Vanessa blush.

"No problem." Vanessa replied. "So what's with the questions anyway?"

Loki looked down at his hand which was still holding hers as a thousand emotions crossed his face in the matter of mere seconds.

"I find myself an outcast in my own home." Loki said gently running his fingers along her hand.

"But I thought you were friends with those three warrior guys and that other warrior chick?" Vanessa said as she ran her thumb over the back of his hand.

"They only play to be friends with me because of their real friendship with Thor." Loki said bitterly.

"Well then they're missing out." Vanessa replied making Loki chuckle. "Plus you made friends with my friends. They've been asking when you'll be back for another visit and you haven't even met Rogue yet."

"Really? They like me?" Loki asked and it made her heart clench. Loki had visited off and on throughout her stay at Mutant High, but had been coming back a little less recently.

"Of course they do." Vanessa said rolling her eyes. "So when are you going to come for another visit?"

"As soon as I gain enough energy again." Loki said his whole demeanor changing to happy.

"Good." Vanessa said as she jumped from the tree. "Now let's go have some fun." In the distance search lights appeared along with colorful twinkling lights of a carnival. Loki came to stand next to her giving her an uncomfortable look. "Oh come on, it will be fun."

Vanessa took his hand in hers and dragged him toward the carnival.


	13. Chapter 13

Vanessa had been so excited for Reed when he got to go to space like he dreamed and then terrified when she heard what had happened to the space station. She had been glued to the TV the whole time until they were safely back on earth.

"Well I'm just glad you guys are alright." Vanessa said over her skype line with Reed.

"Yeah, it's real miracle, but these…these powers we have now have me worried." Reed said.

"How so?" Vanessa asked.

"Well you know that I theorized that the same solar wave so to speak is what altered DNA of humans making mutants, but that was over time, progressing naturally through their DNA, but ours was a more sudden transformation and I worry that there might be side effects." He confided. "That we may not be able to control our abilities."

"Only time will give you the answer to that, but I'd be glad to help in any way I could." Vanessa offered.

"Thanks." Reed said gratefully.

"So how's having Sue back around?" Vanessa asked with a wink.

"Nerve racking." Reed answered.

"Just keep cool and don't be afraid to talk with her." Vanessa said. "I'm still one hundred percent sure she still loves you."

"I hope so." Reed said softly.

"How's Ben?" Vanessa asked cautiously. When she had heard what Deb had done to him she had nearly lost control of her temper. She had talked to him a few times, but he was really depressed about losing her.

"As well as can be expected." Reed said guilty.

"She didn't stick with him through this so she doesn't deserve him. Love is not just about the easy times, but the rough times as well." Vanessa said then turned stern when she saw Reed's still guilt ridden look. "This wasn't your fault Reed."

Reed nodded, but still looked less than convinced. Suddenly another face popped into the screen before Reed could reply verbally.

"Hey, who's the babe?" The male with dirty blonde hair in a close cut and blue eyes asked with a wink.

"Vanessa, this is Johnny Storm, Johnny this is Vanessa Stark." Reed said shooting Johnny an annoyed look.

"Oh yeah, Tony Starks kid. I saw you on the front of that fashion magazine, you were smoking hot." He said with a charming grin. Vanessa raised one eyebrow at him looking un-impressed. "So how about you and me getting together some time?"

"No." Vanessa deadpanned before turning back to Reed.

"What?!" Johnny yelped.

"Bye Reed, catch you later." Vanessa said ignoring him.

"Bye Vanessa" Reed said with a smile as Johnny gave her a shocked look before the screen blinked out. She skyped back and forth with Reed helping him recreate the solar storm and was more than supportive when they became heroes whish landed her an invite to their celebration party after the defeat of Von Doom.

-0-

Reed and Sue kiss on the deck of the Circle Line as it chugs around New York City.

"Dude, that's still my sister." Johnny wined. Drinks, food, music, and all the makings of a great party are on the ship.

Vanessa weaved through the crowd wearing a long in back short in front blue strapless sweetheart top summer dress with a thin silver belt and silver sandal flats. Her hair was in a high curly ponytail with a blue rose with silver accents in her hair. She wore the necklace that Loki gave her around her neck and on her wrist was her bracelet with five new charms.

Four of them were the Fantastic four symbol with the first initial of each member along with a diamond chip and the fifth was in honor of Alicia which was a chisel and hammer. She had come to like the Storms and Alicia very much in their time together, even though Johnny shamelessly flirted with her despite her threats.

"Did they finally come up for air?" Vanessa joked as Reed and Sue pull apart, both of them shooting her a look of both amusement and exhaustion. She had pointed out various times that if they had listened to her sooner they'd be on their honeymoon by now. Rolling his eyes Reed turns to Ben, excited.

"Ben, I've been crunching the numbers on the machine with Vanessa's help. I think if we can rework the power settings..." Reed started to explain, but Ben cut him off.

"Forget it, egghead. I'm good as is." Ben said with a smile, his arm around Alicia who had just walked up to them.

"That's my Benny." Alicia said with a smile. She hands Ben a big metal mug and they clink their glasses together, but he accidently hits to hard and shatters her glass. "We're going to have to work on your touch."

"I like the sound of that." Ben said hugging her close.

"That is so sweet." Vanessa said dreamily thinking of Loki. Johnny thinking he sees an opportunity starts to slide his arm around her shoulders. "Remove the arm or I will break it."

Johnny quickly removed his arm and stepped back as Ben sniggers.

"Come on." Johnny said in exasperation giving her his best puppy pout.

"Sorry Johnny, you're not the one for me." Vanessa said patting him sympathetically on the shoulder as Reed turns to Sue.

"Sue, can I talk to you for a second?" Reed asked and leads her out. Ben, Vanessa, and Johnny swap a glance. A romantic view of the city-scape surrounds them as Reed stands with Sue.

"I found a broken gasket, from space…" Reed start3d.

"A gasket? Reed, we're at a party." Sue groaned as he opens his hand, revealing a circular piece of metal, just about the size of a ring. Sue slows down starring at it open mouthed.

"If one of us were to wear it..." Reed said with a smile. Sue glances around and sees Johnny, Vanessa, and Ben inside, watching obviously in on a secret. She turned back to Reed who looks her square in the eye, unflinching.

"Reed. What are you doing?" Sue asked as Reed drops to his knees, his head stays eye-level, while his body drops. Sue gapes, so emotional she starts to disappear.

"No more thinking, no more variables...Sue Storm...will you..." Reed watched as she completely disappears. "Sue? Sue? You there?"

Dead silence and then the ring disappears as Sue slips it on.

"Yes." Sue said. Reed goes in to kiss her, but misses her lips.

"That's my nose, genius... These are my lips." Sue said as Reed's face is squeezed on both sides by Sue's invisible hands. She pulls him into a kiss and reappears. The party applauds and cheers happy for the couple. Ben, Vanessa, Johnny, and Alicia move through the crowd to join Reed and Sue.

"No more cracks about how I look." Ben said to Johnny as they walked.

"Hey, I'm Mr. Sensitivity now." Johnny said weaving around people. "Clear the way, wide load coming through."

Ben glares, fists clenched as Johnny smiles, mischievous, as they hit the balcony and he flames on, taking off into the air, blazing the number four enclosed in a circle of flame over the city skyline. The crowd oohs and aahs while Ben watches, unimpressed.

"Showoff." Ben grumbled as they turned back to the party.


	14. Chapter 14

Less than one year later found Vanessa at the age of nineteen wearing a blonde wig and black horn rimmed glasses sitting at a museum food court table reading a 'The Witch of Blackbird Pond' her bracelet jingling every time she turned a page.

Only one new charm had been added recently. It was a silver wing with a diamond chip in it in representation of the friends she had made at one of the functions she had to attend since she was a Stark. A feather had fallen out of his pocket which she had seen fall hence the wing.

Loki had kept his promise and came back to visit as often as he could. He had become a favorite visitor as the school. He had wanted to come with them to the museum, but he was needed at home.

Vanessa let out an annoyed sigh as John Allerdyce, A.K.A. Pyro stared up at some angry looking teenagers while messing with his lighter. Bobby Drake and Rogue there as well, looking worried, while Pyro wore a cocky grin.

"I'll ask one more time." Two thuggish teenagers are loomed over them, their anger focused on John. One of the teenagers is holding an unlit cigarette.

"It's a simple question." Another teenager said.

"And I'll give you a simple answer." John smarted off.

"Do...you...have...a...light?" The first teenager said slowly in an angry voice. Pyro pretends to think about the question, flicking his lighter on and off again.

"Sorry, pal. Can't help ya." John said as Vanessa Bobby and Rogue look frustrated.

"Knock it off, John." Rogue whispered angrily.

"Please." Bobby said firmly.

"Stop being such a pain in the butt." Vanessa said not looking up from her book as John twirls his lighter and winks at Rogue.

"Sorry, guys. Besides the fact that this is clearly marked as a non-smoking environment..." John points at sign. "...I couldn't bear knowing that I contributed to this young man's slow, tumor-ridden death."

Just as John flicks his lighter closed, and one of the teenager snatches it from his hand. John reaches for his lighter like his life depended on it, but the other teenager steps in front of him.

"What are you gonna do?" He said with a sneer. "Not so tough, anymore, are you?"

The other teenager finally lights the cigarette and blows the smoke in John's face, anger brewing as he stares at the glowing embers of the cigarette. Pyro's eyes narrow and the flame of the cigarette expands, setting the teenager's jacket and clothe on fire. He screams, and drops to the floor, furiously trying to pat out the flames. The entire food court stands up, staring at the commotion. Pyro smiles. Bobby sends a stream of frost towards the teenager and the fire is quickly snuffled by ice. Everyone looks at them in awe.

Then he suddenly freezes-not in ice, but in motion-like time is suspended. The kids stare in awe. Everyone in the food court is completely motionless. A mother screaming at her kids, a girl on her cell phone, an ice cream machine still running, over flowing a cone...all perfectly motionless. John bends down and picks up his lighter.

"Bobby, what did you do?" Rogue asked.

"I don't think it was him." Vanessa said with a pointed look. The kids look past the crowd at Charles Xavier.

He slowly wheels into the food court, staring at his students with a look of anger and disappointment. Jean, Scott, Ororo, and the rest of the kids are behind him.

"The next time you feel like showing off...don't." The Professor said with stern look.

Suddenly, a sound in the quiet room catches Xavier's attention. He looks up at a television mounted on a nearby wall. The others follow his gaze. On a wall-mounted TV: an image of the White House surrounded by army troops, and the disturbing words "MUTANT ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT" REPORTER.

"...coming to you live from Washington with reports of an assassination attempt on the President, which took place in the Oval Office less than an hour ago. Details are still sketchy, but we do know that the President is alive and uninjured..." The X-Men look horrified by the news. " ...While an official description has not been released, several eyewitnesses have claimed the assassin was a mutant. The suspect is still at large and is considered armed and dangerous..."

"Professor, I think it's time to go." Scott said as Xavier looks at the frozen crowd then back at the broadcast.

"I think you're right." Xavier said. Moments later the entire museum suddenly comes back to life. People continue looking at the exhibits, unaware, that anything at all has happened.

-0-

Rogue sat on the couch next to Bobby and a few other kids, watching television. They're thumb wrestling, looking at each other softly...flirting. Behind them, Peter Rasputin, A.K.A. Colossus, six feet eight inches of hard muscle, is drawing at a table with Vanessa who was writing in her journal.

He pushes the drawing over, letting Vanessa take a look. It's a drawing of Bobby and Rogue. Their lips are touching, and Bobby looks like the life is being drained out of him causing Vanessa to laugh.

Looking back up at the sweet couple Vanessa couldn't help, but to envy them. She wanted to have that kind of love with someone, more specifically she wanted to have a relationship like that with Loki.

On the couch, Bobby stops trying to win. He lets his thumb down, and she looks up at him. They're faces push together...closer...closer...they're about to touch...

"I don't want to hurt you." She said nervously.

"You won't." Bobby said. Suddenly, the sound of a roaring motorcycle fills the mansion. Rogue smiles, then gets up and runs toward it where Logan emerges from the front door.

"Logan!" Rogue said happily.

"Miss me, kid?" Logan asked.

"Not really." Rogue said just before she throws her arms around him. He looks up to see Bobby.

"Who's this?" Logan asked.

"This is Bobby, he's…" Rogue trailed off.

"Her boyfriend." Bobby finished for her as they shake hands. Crackling ice and vapors rise from the handshake. Rogue rolls her eyes at the macho display. "They call me Iceman."

"Right...Boyfriend?" Logan said unimpressed. "How do you guys...?"

"We're working on that." Bobby said as Rogue glances away. Logan looks up as Vanessa walks over to them her arms crossed.

"So did you bring the bike back in one piece or should I be hiding from Scott for the rest of my natural life? Seriously, he's been on my case ever since I let you borrow it." Vanessa said as she gave him a quick hug. "You'd think no one showed him how to share."

"It's fine, more or less, promise. So, where's the Professor?" Logan asked.

"Wait! What do you mean more or less?" Vanessa asked sharply, but Ororo took that moment to enter the scene.

"Look who's come back..." Ororo said. Logan sees Storm walking down the stairs, smiling at him. "And just in time."

"For what?" Logan asked.

"We need a babysitter." Storm answered.

"Babysitter?" Logan said uncertainly.

"Nice to see you, Logan." Storm kisses him lightly on the cheek then he sees Jean on the staircase, walking down. They stare at each other, smiling, trying to hide their nervousness.

"Speaking of sharing." Vanessa said in a sotto voice to Ororo.

"It's good to have you home." Jean said.

"How good?" Logan and Jean smile at each other warmly. Storm and Vanessa awkwardly watch them flirt-sharing a moment.

"It's like Days of Our Lives or something." Vanessa said as she walked away toward the garage.

"I'm...I'm gonna get the jet ready..." Ororo backs up slowly, pointing toward a door. Bobby starts to pull Rogue back to the lounge.

"Bye, Logan." Rogue said as Logan looks at Jean.

"You look good." Logan said.

"So do you." Jean replied. "Storm and I are heading to Boston. The Professor wants us to track a mutant who attacked the President. We won't be gone long."

"But I just got here." Logan said.

"And you'll be here when we get back...unless you plan running off again." Jean said.

"I can probably think of a few reasons to stick around." Logan said as they stare at each other, both wanting to say more.

"Find what you were looking for, Logan?" Jean looks up to see Cyclops standing by the stairs. Logan doesn't look at him-keeps staring at Jean.

"More or less." Logan said. Jean nervously glances back and forth between them, an awkward triangle.

"I'll see you boys later." Jean said.

"Be safe, okay?" She smiles and kisses Scott then pulls away and looks at Logan.

"You, too." Jean smiles, leaving Scott and Logan alone in the room. The two men watch her leave, then stare at each other uncomfortably. Logan tosses Scott the keys to the motorcycle.

"Your bike needs gas." Logan said. Cyclops throws the keys back to Logan.

"Then fill her up." Scott walks away.

"If you say so." Logan said to himself walking down to the garage where the familiar rants of Vanessa and Two Steps from Hell filled the air.

He walked into the garage and found Vanessa standing in front of the bike. As soon as she spotted him she glared.

"You didn't tell me you took it mud wrestling." Vanessa snapped as she gestured to the dirty bike.

"Oh yeah, well it's still in one piece." Logan said. Vanessa rolled her eyes as she picked up a bucket of soap water and two sponges.

"Get over here and help me." Vanessa said tossing him a sponge and they started to clean. "So how was your trip?"

"Disappointing, there was nothing there." Logan said.

"In tried to find something's about what you told me, but it either doesn't exist anymore or it is an extremely guarded secret that would take a whole team of me's to crack." Vanessa said. "All I could find were mentions of something called Weapon X, but nothing solid. Sorry."

"It's alright, I'll go talk to the Professor, maybe he can dig something else up." Logan said tapping the side of his head. Once they finished with the bike he made his way to the Professor while Vanessa gave the bike a tune up.


	15. Chapter 15

Vanessa was in the classroom of the dancing club with Piotr, Jubilee, Bobby, Megan, and Rogue plus a few other couples that had signed up for the class though it was painfully obvious that some of the boys did not really want to be there. The teacher, Alison Blaire a.k.a. Dazzler, stood in the middle of the room as 'So Close' played. She always tried to use recent music when teaching mainly for the boys so they wouldn't be completely bored out of their minds. She did use classical music once in a while though.

"You guys are doing great, but I think we've tortured the boys enough for today." Alison said and smiled as she heard the sighs of relief from the boys and disappointed groans from the girls. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Don't forget to bring tights."

"What?!" Some of the boys panicked.

"Calm down I was just kidding." Alison said with a laugh as they all filed out. "Will you be staying after class again?"

"Yeah, I have some stuff I want to work on." Vanessa said as she stretched her legs.

"Ok. I'll see you later kid." Alison said as she left the room. Vanessa turned back on the cd player and began to sway to 'Two Steps From Hell - Forever in my Dreams'. She started out slow before going on point then falling into her dance. She glided across the room her eyes closed and a pleasant smile on her face as she danced. Slowly the song came to an end as she took her final stance in the middle of the room.

She let out a deep breath feeling relaxed as she put up the radio and then walked out onto the balcony that was connected to the second story classroom. She took another deep breath and walked over to the edge of the railing and sat down on it facing the school. There was a pleasant breeze rustling through the trees. She closed her eyes and leaned back allowing the wind to blow through her hair. She opened her eyes looking up at the night sky full of twinkling stars wondering which one if any was Asgard.

"Hey Nessa, it's curfew." Rogue said as she stuck her head in.

"Ok, I'm coming." Vanessa said as she followed Rogue out of the room and to their dorm room. She quickly showered and changed into her pajamas then fell into an easy sleep.

Vanessa smiled when she walked into what seemed to be beautiful ballroom. It was a long rectangle shape with high domed ceiling. It had silver columns and accents around the room. Also there were dark blue tapestries and wall hangings. Four diamond chandeliers hung from the ceiling and smaller pearl chandeliers hung around the bigger ones. At one end of the room were three giant stained glass windows and doors that led out onto the terrace that led to the gardens.

"Do you like it?" Loki asked as he stepped up next to her.

"I love it." Vanessa said as she smiled up at him then looked down at her outfit. "I don't think I'm dressed for a ball though."

"Allow me." Loki said and with a wave of his hand her outfit changed into a beautiful gown of deep blue and her hair was left in loose curls. The dress was strapless sweet heart top fit and flare with silver high lights with multiple layer starting from just below her waist. Small crystals were in her ears and the dove pendant he had given her hung from round her neck.

"Oh Loki, it's gorgeous." Vanessa said as she twirled around. Loki smiled as she admired the dress enjoying how beautiful she looked in it.

"May I have this dance?" Loki said holding out his hand.

"Of course." Vanessa said placing her hand in his and as they glided to the center of the floor music floated from everywhere without any tangible source.

It was a gentle lilting melody that weaved around them as he pulled her close setting his hand on her waist as he gently held the other. He took the first step and she followed falling into the graceful rhythm of a waltz. He spun and dipped her in time with the music and progressively started to lead her into more difficult moves.

"You're a lovely dancer." He commented as she performed a tight turn.

"I should hope so, I've been taking classes since I was four." Vanessa said with a proud smile.

"Well it shows." Loki said as he twirled her out then back to him, holding her closer than before. Vanessa gently laid her head on his shoulder as they danced and Loki felt his heart flutter as he laid his cheek on the top of her head both of his hands resting on her hips as both of her were clasped behind his neck.

Suddenly their peace was shattered and Vanessa felt herself being sharply pulled from the shared dream.

-0-

A sharp piercing cry cut through Vanessa's dreams violently to say the least. She could hear the sound of multiple feet running and knew something was wrong. She jolted up in bed threw off her covers grabbed her emergency satchel and darted out of her room toward Theresa's dorm.

She didn't know what scared her more the scream or when it stopped. She came to a sharp stop when she saw flash light beams around the corner. She pressed up against the wall and as soon as they were in front of her she stepped forward.

There were two of them dressed in covert army fatigues and the flash lights she saw were connected to suppressant guns meant to subdue not kill, but the knives on their belts along with a pistol each were very deadly. She slowly crept up behind them stepping when they stepped until she was close enough.

"Hello boys." Vanessa said and before they could turn around she pushed them mentally into a wall making sure their heads hit hard. They slid to the ground unconscious. She ran down the hall keeping a look out for anyone else in army fatigues and taking them out when she found them.

There was one that was about to start firing on the students. She concentrated and a blue dagger of light appeared over her right hand. She ran forward stabbing it into the guy's side causing him to crumple to the ground unconscious. Another rushed her but she side stepped and slicing him through his gut as he ran by causing him to land in a shaking mass on the ground.

"Everyone to the emergency exit now." Vanessa ordered and went deeper into the house to find more and taking them out. Suddenly two soldiers came crashing through the wall in front of her followed by Piotr holding Theresa in his arms unconscious.

"Vanessa." Piotr said when he spotted her.

"Piotr, is she ok?" Vanessa asked as she checked the young girl over.

"I think so, they tranquilized her or something. They're kidnapping us." Piotr said. Vanessa tensed at the words.

"Is there anyone else in there?" Vanessa asked.

"No. Jubilee and Kitty have already rounded up the smaller kids and they escaped." Piotr said.

"Good, let's get out of here." Vanessa said turning around and running down the hall with Piotr right behind her. They came up to an opened up a piece of the wall and started to hustle all of the kids through just as Logan came up carrying Caleb who was no more than ten handing him to Piotr who had given Theresa to someone else to carry so he could make sure everyone got in.

"Take him." Logan said handing him the kid then started to walk away.

"I can help." Piotr said.

"Help them." Logan said pointing to the opening.

"Logan, wait, Rouge, John, and Bobby are still missing." Vanessa said. "No one's seen them."

"I'll find them, now go, and get as far away from here as you can." Logan said. Vanessa and Piotr ducked into the tunnel closing the door behind them.


	16. Chapter 16

They came to the end of the tunnel that let out in the woods disguised as a large drainage pipe. Piotr and Vanessa met up with the others in a nearby clearing. Some kids were crying while others were just angry. Vanessa let out a piecing whistle making everyone go quiet.

"Everyone keep quiet, we don't know where these men are or how far they'll come to find us so keep it down." Vanessa said sharply. "Megan, how many are missing?"

"Six as well as Bobby, Rouge, Logan and John." Megan said as she comforted some of the younger students. "Vanessa, they got Jubilee."

Vanessa felt her blood run cold as the world titled under her. Shaking her head and suppressing her tears she gathered herself.

"Logan is taking care of Bobby, Rouge, and John, I'm sure he'll find a way to save the others as well." Vanessa said as she ran her hands through her hair. "Ok everyone listen up. We're going into town so stay together. Keep your mouths shut and your eyes and ears open."

"Where are we going?" Megan asked as Vanessa picked up Linka, a little girl of six with the ability to control plants that had dark curly brown hair and hazel green eyes with pale green skin.

"A hotel in town. It's where my dad stays when he comes to visit. They're very discreet." Vanessa said as they walked. It was a long and hard trek until they finally reached the town and the large hotel.

"Wow, this place is…wow." Megan said looking up at the impressive building.

"Yeah." Vanessa said with a sigh as she pulled out a hat pulling the brim over her eyes hiding her face from view. Some of the more obvious mutants also covered themselves from view as well. They all walked into the building following Vanessa and received many strange looks from some of the guests, but were mostly ignored. "Stay here, Piotr's in charge."

Vanessa walked over to the front desk and rang for the clerk.

"Can I help you?" The man at the desk asked.

"I want the pent house suite." Vanessa said as she lifted her cap and handed him her credit card and id. The man's eyes flickered with recognition.

"Yes ma'am." The man said getting her the key card. "Will your…friends be joining you?"

"Yeah." Vanessa said taking the key card. "Thanks and I also want a lot of extra beds, blankets, and pillows brought to the room. In the morning I want a continental breakfast served to the room as well at around nine."

"Yes ma'am." The man said as wrote down her requests.

"Thank you, and as usual keep this quiet." Vanessa said leaving behind the nodding man. "Come on kids."

They took turns in the elevators that lead to the suite and rode them up. The doors opened to reveal a short hall with one door that Vanessa opened with the key card. The suite was lavish and extremely large with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room all of them very spacious. While the extra sleeping supply was being brought up Megan and Piotr put the four unconscious kids into the beds that were already in the rooms while some of the older ones got the younger ones under control.

-0-

Vanessa watched as the last of the workers delivered the extra stuff, tipped them generously, and then walked over to the phone dialing swiftly. The first number she called was Scott's but she only got a disconnected signal and Jean and Ororo were out of range. The next one she did went through. It rang a few times before a deep slightly groggy voice answered the phone.

"Hello?" The baritone voice said.

"Dr. McCoy, it's me Vanessa." Vanessa said. She remembered the first time she had met Dr. McCoy. She had been nervous at first, but the more she talked to him the more she saw the extremely intelligent man he was and not the beast he looked like. It was also nice to meet someone who understood what it was like to be ahead of your generation in the field of studies.

She had added on his charm, a book, along with Rogues which was a lily, and a wolverine animal charm for Logan all in silver with diamond chips.

"Vanessa? What…" Hank started, but Vanessa cut him off.

"The school was attacked tonight by some sort of soldiers." Vanessa said.

"What?!" Hank said wide awake now.

"I don't know who they were, but they took some of the kids. I tried to call the Professor and Scott, but they didn't answer their phones and Jean and Ororo are out of range." Vanessa explained quickly. "Logan, the one that was left in charge is also missing along with Bobby, Rouge, and John as well as at least six other kids."

"Where are you now?" Hank said and she could hear him getting out of bed and dressed.

"At the Aurora Grand Hotel along with the kids that managed to get away. I didn't think it was safe to stay near the school." Vanessa said.

"You did well, I'll be right there." Hank said and she could hear the jingle of keys. "What room are you in?"

"Top floor suite." Vanessa answered. "Should I let the kids call their parents?"

"No, not yet. We'll wait until morning." Hank said. "Just keep everyone calm and I'll be there in an hour."

"Ok." Vanessa said then hung up the phone.

"So?" Megan asked as she came over followed by Piotr.

"All I could get a hold of was Dr. McCoy." Vanessa said.

"Jason picked some of these up on the way out of the school." Megan said showing her the strange needle like objects that were shot out of the guns.

Vanessa took it and started to look it over. She broke one open and smelled the residual substance inside. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an extremely high tech looking phone. It had a frame and a translucent center which she started to tap on.

"JARVIS wake up, I got an unknown substance I need you to run." Vanessa said putting a drop of the substance on the screen. Then she scanned the injector with the phone. "While you're at it see if you can see who manufactured this."

"Right away Miss Stark." The phone replied.

"That is still so weird." Megan said shaking her head. She had already shown off JARVIS at school.

"Yeah, but it works." Vanessa replied as they waited for results.

"The tranquilizer is Immobilon, a mixture of etorphine and a phenothioazine tranquilliser such as acepromazine or methotrimeprazine." JARVIS announced making Vanessa bite her lip.

"What's that?" Megan asked.

"Also known as Etorphine it is often used to immobilize elephants and other large mammals." JARVIS said as Vanessa worried her lip.

"That stuff is supposed to be highly regulated by law so that means this attack came from a highly connected organization." Vanessa said. "Someone high up is helping them, what about the manufacturer JARVS?"

"There is no manufacturer mark and no other way to tell where it had originated from." JARVIS replied.

"Ok, thanks JARVIS, oh and keep this secret from my dad. I'll tell him, but I'd rather wait till we get things sorted." Vanessa said.

"As you wish Miss Stark." JARVIS replied.

"Thank you again JARVIS." Vanessa said as she slipped the phone into her pocket. Everyone else settled down as Vanessa paced the floor trying to make sense of what had happened.

-0-

-0-

A knock on the door made everyone go tense. Knowing that there was no way it could be Dr. McCoy so soon Vanessa cautiously walked over to the door and peeked through the peep hole. Standing in front of the door was a well-dressed man wearing a black suit, had thinning blonde hair, and grey blue eyes. He had a slight smile on his face like he found everything around him amusing.

She didn't see anyone else with him, but couldn't take the chance. She motioned for Megan to come over. Megan looked through the peep hole then nodded taking hold of the door handle while Vanessa positioned herself in front of it. Megan flung the door open and Vanessa telekinetically grabbed the man and pulled him in the room then rammed him back against the door when Megan had closed it.

"Who the heck are you?" Vanessa snapped it kind of worried her that he didn't seem nervous, he still had that smile on his face.

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division." Phil answered.

"Wow, you should work on shortening that." Megan said with a raised eyebrow.

"We get that a lot and we're taking it into consideration." Phil said.

"What are you doing here?" Piotr said crossing his massive arms.

"Maybe we can sit down and discuss this?" Phil said looking down at where Vanessa was still holding him rather tightly to the front door with her powers. Vanessa glanced at Megan and Piotr who nodded.

"Try anything and it will not end well for you." Vanessa let him go and led him over to the dining room, the only place that didn't have kids sleeping in it, followed by Piotr and Megan.

"Understood." Phil said as they went.

Before stepping into the dining room Vanessa walked over to one of the beds and woke up a boy around the age of fifteen. He had messy black hair with gold streaks and neon blue eyes.

"Jason, wake up." Vanessa said as she shook him awake.

"What? What is it?" Jason asked groggily.

"We have a visitor and I need you to tell us if he's telling the truth." Vanessa said as Jason got up and followed her into the dining room as Vanessa filled him in on what they knew of their visitor so far. "Phil, this is Jason and he has the ability to see people's emotions and tell when they are telling the truth or lying no matter how good their poker face is."

"Now talk." Megan snapped as Jason sat across from Phil.

"We heard about the attack on the Xavier Institute and we need to know what happened." Phil said evenly not taking his eyes from Jason's.

"Why?" Vanessa asked.

"We have an interest in the works that Charles Xavier had been doing in this school. He is one of the few people helping Mutants learn about what they can do and how to control it instead of trying to turn them against the world use them, or trying to eradicate them." Phil answered. Vanessa looked over to Jason whose eyes had started to glow as he shifted through Phil's emotional spectrum.

"He's telling the truth and there is no evidence that he has a darker intent for being here." Jason said. Vanessa nodded then proceeded to tell Phil what had happened and what they had learned.

-0-

The phone rang and Megan answered her face going red with anger.

"Vanessa, they're not letting Dr. McCoy up. Some snooty girl is having a fit." Megan said.

"Dang it." Vanessa snapped as she got up then pointed at Phil. "Stay here, Piotr make sure he stays."

"Ok." Piotr said as Vanessa stormed out of the room and down the elevator. When she entered the front lobby she saw that the man from before at the front desk had been replaced by a blonde mascara abusing chick who was looking at Dr. McCoy with a mixture of fear and disgust.

"You need to leave, we don't allow pets in this hotel." She said in a snide voice. She could see Dr. McCoy tense, but was too controlled to allow his anger to show.

"That is enough." Vanessa snapped deciding to be angry enough for the both of them.

"Oh, Miss Stark, I didn't know you were staying with us." The woman said with a sugar won't melt in my mouth smile.

"Yeah well apparently there are a lot of things you don't know, like manners, you have none." Vanessa snapped as she glared at the woman whose mouth was hanging open. "I will be talking to your manager about this. Come on Dr. McCoy."

"You don't have to talk to the manager on my behalf." McCoy said once they were in the elevator.

"Yeah well she had no right to talk to you like that." Vanessa said with a sigh as she leaned against the wall of the elevator. "Also I should warn you, some sort of agent came and he's asking all sorts of questions about the attack. He says he means no harm and Jason says he's telling us the truth so far."

"I've heard of them, it should be fine, I'll talk to him." McCoy said then noticed how tense and worried Vanessa looked. "It's going to be ok. You did good Vanessa."

"Thanks Dr. McCoy." Vanessa said with a grateful smile as the elevator opened up and they went into the suite. After Coulson and McCoy talked Coulson left with a polite nod and smile to Vanessa on his way out. Vanessa had to admit she was impressed by the way that Coulson took Dr. McCoy's appearance, as if he saw it every day. Made her wonder what he did see.


	17. Chapter 17

The next day found the students and Dr. McCoy at the school where the damage was not as bad as they thought it was going to be. They sat up teams of students to clean up the debris while Vanessa got on the phone and made some calls. The day wasn't even over when the school had been repaired thanks to her connections, but they basement was another story.

"It's been stripped." Vanessa said as she and Dr. McCoy walked into Cyrebro. It was complete in shambles. "Why would they do this, only the Professor can… oh no."

"Oh my stars and garters." McCoy breathed out catching on.

"That's why I couldn't reach him or Scott, they took them as well." Vanessa said as she ran a hand through her hair. Suddenly her phone went off, looking down at her phone she let out a happy cheer. "Jean! The school was attacked, kids have been kidnapped, we think the Professor was kidnapped as well and …"

"Vanessa calm down, we know." Jean said cutting her off and told her about everything leading up to meeting with Magneto.

Vanessa in turn told them about what had happened on their end. She nodded and handed the phone to Dr. McCoy who talked with Jean for a while before hanging up and handing it back to Vanessa.

"They're going to Alkali Lake to rescue everyone." McCoy said as he looked around as did Vanessa.

"Well I don't like just sitting around and doing nothing." Vanessa said as she started to repair Cyrebro.

"Need some help?" McCoy asked.

"I wouldn't say no." Vanessa replied as they worked side by side well into the night until a wave of mental pain surged through them. It ripped through their minds pulling them apart. It was like fire and ice raging in their heads causing pain like none of them had ever felt before. "What's going on?!"

"It's the Professor." Hank managed to respond, roaring in pain. Then as suddenly as it began it stopped leaving them on the ground breathing hard drained of their energy.

"Are you ok?" Vanessa gasped out both of them unable to stand up right away.

"Fine." McCoy said gasping as well. "You?"

"I'm ok." Vanessa answered.

"We need to check on the students." McCoy said.

"Right." Vanessa agreed.

They struggled to their feet each groaning in pain and spent the rest of the night comforting the scared students, but luckily they were all un-injured just rattled. When everything had quieted down again Vanessa went to her dorm room while McCoy went to his room. She found Megan lying on her side hugging her pillow to her chest crying.

"Oh, Megan." Vanessa said as she went to her friend's side.

"I'm so worried about Rogue, Jubilee, and every one." Megan said wiping her eyes.

"Me too." Vanessa said rubbing her friends back. They both fell asleep worried deeply about their friends and it was one of the rare nights where Loki was nowhere to be found in her dreams.

-0-

When Vanessa woke the next morning it was to the sound of the X Jet landing. She sprang out of the bed followed by Megan as she darted out of bed still in the clothes from the day before. They raced down to the basement followed by McCoy finally making it to the hanger just as everyone started to get off. The moment Vanessa and Megan saw Rogue Jubilee and Bobby they ran over pulling them all into tight hugs as the others got off.

"Where's Jean?" McCoy asked looking around.

"And John?" Vanessa asked.

"John joined Magneto." Bobby said bitterly.

"And Jean she…she sacrificed herself to save us." Ororo said with tears in her eyes.

Vanessa felt her world shift nearly falling to her knees as she clung to Rogue's hand. McCoy took the Professor from Logan and Scott, both of whom walked out of the room as soon as they could. Megan took the ones who were kidnapped to the kitchen leaving Vanessa with Ororo and someone she recognized from her child hood.

He was a man that looked like a blue devil with strange tattoos like someone had cut into him with a design in mind all over the visible parts for lack of a better way to describe him. He had a spade like tail, three fingers on each of his hands, two toes on each of his feet, fangs, pointed ears, and glowing yellow eyes.

"Ororo, why don't you go get some sleep, I'll show him to a guest room." Vanesa said wiping her eyes.

"Thank you Vanessa." Ororo said gratefully then nodded goodnight to the man. He stepped forward about to introduce himself, but Vanessa beat him to it.

"Kurt Wagner a.k.a. The Incredible Nightcrawler." Vanessa said with a small smile. He looked at her in surprise. "Ich sah Sie, als ich wenig im Münchener Zirkus war, nahm meine Mutter mich." ("I saw you when I was little in the Munich Circus, my mother took me.")

"Sie sind deutsch." ("You are German.")He said with a smile.

"Ich bin." ("I am.") Vanessa said with a nod as she led him out of the basement. "Wir trafen uns Sie wissen." ("We met you know.")

"Wir taten." ("We did?") He asked.

"Ich war sechs und bestimmte, Ihr Autogramm zu bekommen, so schlich ich in den Rücken und fand Sie." ("I was six and determined to get your autograph so I snuck into the back and found you.") Vanessa said as his face lit up in recognition. "Mein Name ist Vanessa." ("My name is Vanessa.")

"Ich erinnere mich. Sie waren das kleine Mädchen, das meinen Schwanz anzog." ("I remember. You were the little girl that pulled on my tail.") He said with a laugh.

"Ja gut versuchte ich, Ihre Aufmerksamkeit zu bekommen." ("Yeah, well I was trying to get your attention.") Vanessa said with a shrug. "Und es arbeitete, ich habe noch das Autogramm." ("And it worked, I still have the autograph.") They talked back and forth a little more until they reached his guest room. "Die Küche ist gerade unten der Saal nach rechts, kann nicht es verpassen." ("The kitchen is just down the hall to the right, can't miss it.")

"Danke und Es tut mir leid, dass für Ihren Verlust." ("Thank you and I'm sorry for your loss.") He said kindly.

"So sind ich." ("So am I.") Vanessa said as the grief crashed down on her. She cleared her throat as she wiped at her tears. "Wenn Sie irgendetwas brauchen, gerade zur Küche gehen, ist jemand immer dort." ("If you need anything just go to the kitchen, someone is always there.")

"Gute Nacht heir Vanessa." ("Goodnight Vanessa.") Kurt said.

"Gute Nacht heir Kurt." ("Goodnight Kurt.") Vanessa replied.

Kurt nodded and Vanessa walked away and as soon as she turned the corner she headed downstairs and out the back door to the garden where she collapsed under a tree as deep sobs wracked her body.


	18. Chapter 18

Vanessa found herself in the middle of a garden filled with flowers and trees as well as a fountain at the center of a series of stone paths. She walked over and sat down heavily on a bench clasping her hands in front of her.

"Vanessa?" Loki said as he sat down next to her. "Are you ok?"

"Loki, why do people hate us so much? We can't help what we are." Vanessa said with tears in her eyes as she told him everything. He pulled her into his lap as his arms wrapped around her as she cried. "She's dead, Jean's dead and I don't know what to do."

"All will be well Little Dove." Loki said as he stroked her hair. "I know she was important to you, but know that the one's we love never really leave us. She's still with you in through her teachings, whenever you use what she taught you she's there."

Vanessa listened to his voice and began to calm down. She nuzzled into his embrace never wanting to leave.

"Thank you Loki, I don't know what I'd do without you." Vanessa said softly wrapping her arms around him.

"I don't know what I'd do without you either." Loki replied kissing the top of her head.


	19. Chapter 19

"Rogue, I'm sure that he doesn't think that." Vanessa said into her phone ear piece as she looked over the sheet music for 'Kiss Me Kate', her bracelet catching the light with each turn of the page.

Another charm had been added in honor of her friend Kurt, it was a silver cross with a diamond chip in the middle. The bracelet had started to get a little attention from the press as did her necklace, neither of which she was ever without. They wanted to know everything about them, but she only gave vague answers that kept them guessing.

She had graduated from the X Men a year ago and had returned home. She visited Manchester from time to time and did some shows on Broadway when they appealed to her (The luck of being wealthy and talented allowed her this luxury of picking and choosing), but decided to spend more time with her dad and her extended family.

She had almost got sucked into the Fantastic fours adventure with the Silver Surfer, but they pulled it out in the end. She only had to skype with Reed about a way to dislodge the surfer from his board which worked then help Susan get to the Silver Surfer by hacking into the military base security they were being held in. That had been one heck of a day when Galactus came. Panic was abundant everywhere with little to nothing that Vanessa could do about it, but wait and hope the Fantastic Four came through which thank goodness they did.

Johnny Blaze had settled down with his long time lady love finally and they would talk from time to time still. She even helped him out on a few of his missions, not that she told her dad that she was going around the world battling evil monsters from Hell when she was needed.

"Of course he does, men only have one thing on their mind." Rogue said.

"Not all men are like my father." Vanessa said rolling her eyes and was rewarded by a small laugh from Rogue. "But seriously Rogue, if you want this cure than it needs to be for you and no one else."

"I know, and I do want this. I want to be able to be able to hug someone or a hand shake or a…" Rogue stuttered out before Vanessa cut her off.

"Or a kiss." Vanessa said putting down her music.

"Yes." Rogue breathed out.

"Then go for it." Vanessa said with a smile. "This is your body and your choice, mind you if we were talking about abortion I would have a totally different view."

"That's hypocritical." Rogue said with a laugh.

"Yes, yes it is and as a human it is my right to do so." Vanessa said with a smirk then caught sight of what time it was. "Listen, I got to split. I have a function that I was supposed to be at an hour ago. Call me later, ok?"

"Ok, and Vanessa?" Rogue said.

"Yeah?" Vanessa replied.

"Thanks." Rogue said.

"No problem." Vanessa said then hung up and started to get ready for the social event she was supposed to be at. She could already hear Pepper's disappointed voice and see the look she was going to get.

In the end it was long boring and a waste of her time. Pepper had read her the right act, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be mostly because her dad had made quite an embarrassing drunken speech in front of everyone allowing her to slip away and return home.

She happily cuddled under her covers of her bed as soon as she returned home and allowed sleep to overtake her.


	20. Chapter 20

Loki and Vanessa raced down a path on the backs of their steeds through the woods until they came to a beautiful waterfall that cascaded into a small lake. As they rode by Vanessa jumped off of her horse and into the lake with a whoop. When Vanessa surfaced she found Loki still sitting upon his horse looking down at her.

"Care to join me, the waters fine." Vanessa said as she floated on her back.

She wore shorts and dark blue swimsuit tank top. She had long ago discovered that modesty was important when around Loki, plus she wasn't one for skimpy bathing suits. Loki slid off his own horse standing at the bank of the lake.

"You just want me to take my shirt off." Loki said with a smirk. Vanessa was rubbing off on him.

"Maybe." Vanessa said with a wink before taking a deep breath and submerging herself under the water before remembering that she didn't need to hold her breath. It felt strange to be breathing under the water, but amazing at the same time.

It was a beautiful sight under the crystal clear water where underwater flowers bloomed amongst the rocky and sandy terrain as a variety of aquatic life swam around in all sorts of colors. She swam back to the surface to see if Loki had decided to join her or not, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Loki? Loki, where are you?" Vanessa called out as she turned in the water trying to spot him. Suddenly a pair of arms slipped around her from behind lifting her into the air making her yelp as she was thrown on the air landing with a great splash. She slowly re-emerged with a dark look on her face as Loki laughed. "This means war."

Vanessa sent a large splash at him hitting him directly in the face causing him to sputter.

"So that's how you want to play." Loki said with a smirk as mischief danced in his eyes. Butterflies erupted in Vanessa's stomach when she saw that look and she slowly started to swim backwards.

"Ok, now Loki we're even so don't start nothing that you can't finish." Vanessa stuttered out as he advanced on her. "Seriously Loki, don't make me go crazy on you. Loki, don't you dare. Loki. LOKI!"

Loki pounced grabbing her and pulling her under. Vanessa managed to squirm out of his grip and swam away as fast as she could under the water fall and into a cave, but instead of the tunnel that would lead back out to the bank she found it to be nothing more than an alcove.

"Snap." Vanessa breathed out.

Quickly turning to swim back out she found Loki standing there with that same smirk on his face making her stomach squirm as he swam closer trapping her in a corner his arms on either side of her. He slowly leaned down until his cheek lay gently against hers and his lips were right next to her ear.

"Got you." He said in a low voice, his lips brushing her ear making a shiver race down her spine.

Vanessa was amazed that she could even hear him over the pounding of her heart. He leaned back to where their noses were brushing as he looked into her eyes. She felt like her heart was about to explode as his lips barely brushed hers.

Without a thought she leaned forward into the kiss which Loki happily intensified bringing his arms around her and pulling her to his chest. Her hands which had been resting on his chest made their way up until they were on his shoulders. Slowly Loki pulled back resting his forehead against hers as he starred lovingly into Vanessa's eyes.

"I cannot go another day without telling you how I feel." Loki said softly as Vanessa gazed up at him.

"And how do you feel?" Vanessa asked softly.

"Long have I loved you Vanessa and would be honored to have that love returned." Loki replied with a smile, but his eyes gave away the nervousness he was truly feeling. Vanessa smiled lovingly up at him tightening her arms around his neck.

"I love you to Loki." Vanessa said practically glowing with happiness as he pulled her into another deep kiss.


	21. Chapter 21

Vanessa was stretching out in her room which was now half dance studio about to start practicing her dancing routine for 'Kiss Me Kate'. Bianca was after all mainly a dancing part. The lead in the play had gone to a lovely new comer that had more than enough talent for the part of Kate and then some. The show was a big success, but Vanessa loved going over the dance when she could.

She was home while her dad went to Vegas to accept some award for something or another so it was a nice and quiet night full of peace then he would be home long enough to pack and then he was off to Afghanistan.

She glanced over to where she had a collage of pictures on her wall above her desk lingering over the picture of her and Jean. It had been almost two years since she died. Scott had taken it the worst and still alienated himself from everyone no matter what anyone did. It felt like a piece of them had died with her.

"JARVIS, can you pick up where we left off?" Vanessa asked as she took her position.

"As you wish." JARVIS replied and the music started. Vanessa flew into the routine as she thought over the past. Her sad memories were only broken by her phone ringing.

"Hello." Vanessa said as she picked up the phone. She nearly dropped the phone in shock.

"Bobby, what did you say?" Her whole body shook and then she fell to her knees tears streaming down her face. Xavier and Scott were dead killed by Jean who apparently was alive.

"Why didn't anyone call me before?" Vanessa said as tears gathered in her eyes. They hadn't wanted to get her hopes up apparently, but now something bigger was happening.

"I'm on my way." Vanessa hung up and packed her duffle quickly.

"JARVIS tell dad I had to fly to Manchester and I'll see him when he gets back from Afghanistan." Vanessa said in a strained voice guessing that she would probably be staying in Manchester for a while. "And tell them to prep the other jet."

"As you say Miss Stark." JARVIS replied.

"Thank you JARVIS." Vanessa said as she swung her duffle over her shoulder and ran down to the garage where she took off on her purple MV-Augusta F4CC motorcycle to the airfield where she boarded the fastest jet they had landing in New York that afternoon.

They wheeled out her motorcycle that had been loaded on the jet. As soon as it was safe enough she pressed the button on the handle and really peeled rubber. She pulled into the school parking her bike in the garage and grabbing her duffle walked into the mansion.

"Vanessa." Rogue called out, her voice rough from crying. Vanessa didn't say anything as she ran over and hugged her friend as a fresh wave of tears hit her.

"Rogue, what happened?" Vanessa asked.

"Ororo and the others are in the library, they can explain better than I can." Rogue said in a thick voice and griping each other's hands they walked into the library.

Waiting for them in the library was Ororo and Hank. The moment she saw Ororo she ran over and hugged the woman then Hank. Rogue excused herself as they all took their seats and Ororo explained what had happened.

"So Scott and the Professor are both gone and Jean is with Magneto." Vanessa said as she gripped the armrests of her chair tightly. "When do we get her back?"

"Vanessa, it's not that easy. Jean's changed." Ororo said. "There might be no way to get her back."

"There has to be." Vanessa snapped standing to her feet. "We just need to think of a way."

"Vanessa." Hank said calmly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Vanessa slowly turned to face him tears streaming down her face.

"It's not fair." Vanessa said as Hank wrapped his arms around her and she cried into his shoulder. "It's not fair!"

After she had calmed down enough she was taken to a guest room for the night. The morning of the funeral dawned and Vanessa watched the sun rise having been unable to sleep for long. Loki had once again been a great comfort during what little sleep she did receive.

Vanessa slipped into an off the shoulder black dress with quarter length sleeves and a pencil skirt that reached her knees. Black pantyhose were on her legs and her feet were clad in simple high heeled shoes. She put her hair up into a bun and the only jewelry she wore was the necklace that Loki had given her and her charm bracelet.

At the funereal she sat down between Collusus and Hank her hands gripped tightly in her lap as Ororo spoke.

"We live in an age of darkness, a world full of fear, hate and intolerance, but in every age, there are those who fight against it. Charles Xavier was born to a world divided. A world he tried to heal. A mission he never saw accomplished. It seems the destiny of great men to see their goals unfulfilled." Ororo said and Vanessa let out a small sob. She felt a familiar furry hand cover hers and she gratefully clasped it in hers. "Charles was more than a leader, more than a teacher. He was a friend. When we were afraid, he gave us strength. And when we were alone, he gave us a family. He may be gone, but his teachings live on through us, his students. Wherever we may go, we must carry on his vision. And that's a vision of a world united."

Everyone stood up and walked by the grave placing white rose's next to the small fire.

'What will happen now?' Vanessa asked herself as she placed the rose on the memorial.

-0-

"So what now? What do we do?" Bobby asked. Ororo, Hank, Kitty, Logan, Bobby, and Vanessa had gathered in the library after changing their clothes.

"Xavier started this school, perhaps it's best that it end with him." Hank said solemnly. "We'll tell the students they're going home."

"Most of us don't have anywhere to go." Bobby said. "I can't believe this. I can't believe we're not going to fight for this school."

"I'm sorry." A boy with light blonde hair said as he cautiously entered the room. "I know this is a bad time. I was told that this was a safe place for mutants."

"It was, son." Hank said. Ororo looked thoughtful then became determined.

"And it still is. We'll find you a room." Ororo said with a smile. "Hank, tell all the students the school stays open."

"Hello Warren." Vanessa said with a smile as the others disbursed.

"Vanessa? You're a mutant?" He said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I know, I'm kind of surprised to see you here to." Vanessa commented.

"You two know each other?" Ororo asked.

"We run in the same circles." Vanessa said with a shrug.

"Well then I'll leave him in your care." Ororo said with a smile.

"Can do." Vanessa said with a lazy salute. "Come on, I'll take you to a room."

"I never would have guessed that you were a mutant." Warren said as they went down the hall.

"Yeah, well I was afraid of what it would do to dad's business. A drop in the stock that much would cost a lot of jobs and with the economy the way it is I don't want that on my conscious." Vanessa said.

"So what can you do?" Warren asked.

"Well for starters." Vanessa lifted her hand and Warren's bag started to float in the air.

"Wow." Warren breathed out.

"Yeah, I can also create these psionic knives." Vanessa said showing him the knives. "I can choose if they are deadly or not according to the Professor. He's going to help me…"

"Vanessa." Warren said with concern placing his hand on her shoulder when she stopped mid-sentence her face tearing up again.

"I'm sorry, I forgot for a moment." Vanessa said wiping her eyes. She cleared her throat before continuing again. She showed him to a small unoccupied room walking in behind him. "So what about you Warren, what can you do?"

"Oh well I can't really do anything, it's more like what I've gained." He said and Vanessa shot him a confused look. He slid off his jacket and turned around so his back was facing her. Through the material of his white shirt she could see a pair of even whiter wings folded up against his back.

"Oh wow. Well, that explains that feather. Have you flown with them yet?" Vanessa asked as she reached out and lightly touched them causing him to shiver.

"Yeah, when I was escaping from my dad, he wanted me to take the cure and I had second thoughts." Warren said with a shrug as he pulled his jacket back on.

"I'm so sorry." Vanessa said softly.

"So am I." Warren said.

"Well I'll leave you to get settled in. If you need anything there pretty much isn't a place you can't go and not find someone." Vanessa said.

"Thanks Nessa." He said with a smile as he pulled her into a hug.

"No problem." Vanessa said pulling back and smiling up at him before taking her leave. She walked down the hall stopping at the rec room when she saw Mangneto on the TV.

"Today's attack was only our first salvo. So long as the cure exists, our war will rage. Your cities will not be safe. Your streets will not be safe. You will not be safe. And to my fellow mutants, I make you this offer... Join us or stay out of our way. Enough mutant blood has been spilled already." Magneto finished his speech and the TV went blank.

"This is only the beginning isn't it." Vanessa said crossing her arms with a glare as she glanced to Ororo who just nodded gravely. "Where's Logan?"

Ororo's Silence was all the answer she needed to know that he had gone after Jean.


	22. Chapter 22

"Storm. Storm!" Logan called out as he entered the mansion.

"Logan, what's wrong?" Vanessa asked as she came down the hall.

"Where's Storm?" He asked quickly.

"Upstairs, why?" Vanessa asked.

"What are you doing back here?" Storm asked as she walked down the stairs before he could answer Vanessa.

"I need help." Logan said.

"You found her." Storm stated.

"Jean, you know where she is?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah. She's with Magneto." Logan answered.

"Where are they?" Storm asked.

"On the move. I know where they're going." Logan said.

"You're saying you saw Magneto?" Hank asked walking up to them.

"We gotta go. They're gonna attack Alcatraz." Logan said

"There are troops stationed on that island." Hank said as they followed Logan back down the hall.

"Not enough to stop him." Logan said.

"Especially if he has Jean." Vanessa said bitterly.

"Let's suit up." Storm said as they all headed down to the basement.

"Hard to believe this once fit me." Hank muttered as he pulled on his uniforms jacket which he couldn't seem to get buttoned. Vanessa's uniform consisted of a high v neck black cat suit with blue piping, knee high boots, and elbow length gloves. She had her hair tied up in a high sleek ponytail.

"I'm sure it's just the fur." Vanessa said with a small smile. Hank sent her a quick grin, but then Vanessa went on. "Or the Twinkies."

"Ha ha." Hank said in a monotone voice.

"If Magneto gets that cure, we can't stop him." Logan said getting them back on point.

"Can you estimate how many he has?" Hank asked.

"An army and Jean." Logan answered.

"His powers have limits, hers do not." Hank said.

"There's only seven of us, Logan." Bobby said stopping Logan in his tracks.

"Yeah. We're outnumbered." Logan said. "I'm not gonna lie to you. But we lost Scott. We lost the professor. If we don't fight now, everything they stood for will die with them. I'm not gonna let that happen. Are you?" Everyone shook their heads. "Then we stand together. X-Men. All of us."

"We're in." Bobby said with a smile as they all went to get on the jet.

"Let's go." Logan said. "They're ready."

"Yeah, I know." Storm said with a nod then turned to look at Logan. "But are you ready to do what you need to do when the time comes?"

-0-

The ride in the jet was tense and quiet as everyone contemplated the battle to come. Vanessa knew that her dad and Loki were going to kill her if she survived this and that thought shocked her to her core, if she survived this. She took a deep breath steadying her nerves, she could do this and she would survive.

"Oh, my stars and garters." Hank breathed out as they hovered over Alcatraz.

"Go into stealth mode." Storm said as she flicked some toggles and the jet disappeared. Storm went in first using her lightning to force the brotherhood back. Beast leapt from the top of the building with a roar followed by Bobby who was clinging to Kitty as they jumped disappearing into the ground then popping back up.

"Don't ever do that again." Bobby said feeling a little unsettled.

Colossus jumped down in metal form causing a crater as Vanessa sailed down using her powers to levitate landing next to Colossus. Finally Wolverine came down using his claws to slow his descent. He rushed out in front of the soldiers making a line with the other X Men who stood between the Brotherhood and the soldiers.

"You men cover the doors!" Logan ordered. "Everybody get together! And hold this line!"

It was silent for a time, the calm before the storm.

"Finish them." Magneto ordered and with that the Brotherhood rushed at them.

Vanessa formed a psionic knife on each hand slicing through anyone that came near her. She charged a mutant who was using cat like claws to cut down her prey and using its own leg to jump into the air and kick it in the head sending it to the ground then landed on it stabbing her knife into her back. She ran at another sliding to her knees under a wave of energy and took out the energy man's legs with a swiped of her knives. Standing to her feet another charged her from behind. She ran forward and used her momentum to scale a wall and flip backwards landing behind the man and sliced the back of its neck all of the victims of her knives falling into coma like states, then turned to the next foe.

It was a completely green girl with slim dripping from her hands that burned when it hit the ground. The girl sent a stream of the acid from her hands at her and Vanessa instinctively threw up her hands. To her astonishment a blue shield formed in front of her stopping the flow.

"Well, that's new." Vanessa said with wide eyes then thrust her hand forward causing the girl to slam into a wall.

She looked up just in time to see Magneto lifting cars into the air and Pyro setting them on fire. She ran forward cutting down the enemy as she went and stood in front of them forcing the cars away from the soldiers as best she could.

"Vanessa." Logan yelled as he tackled her to the ground before she was hit by a spike. He pulled her over behind some wreckage with Storm and Hank. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Vanessa said before she threw up another shield protecting them from flaming debris.

"Since when could you do this?" Storm asked.

"Since now." Vanessa replied.

"You evolved." Storm breathed out as the continued to fight.

"What, like a Pokémon?" Vanessa asked as she threw a piece of wreckage back at the Brotherhood.

"Some mutants continue to evolve until they reach their full potential. Not everyone is born with all of their powers at once." Hank said as he batted away three men at once.

"Great, now I'm a Pokémon." Vanessa said with a roll of her eyes as they ducked down again. "We're getting overwhelmed here. What are we going to do?"

Logan looked from the remains of a cure gun and back to Hank then Storm and Vanessa.

"We work as a team." Logan said.

"Best defense is a good offence." Storm said.

"Bobby, think you can take out your old friend?" Logan asked turning to Bobby who was nearby. Bobby nodded and ran out freezing one of the cars gaining Pyro's attention. "Storm, we're gonna need some cover."

"Right." Storm said as he eyes turned pure white and she gazed up at the sky. Fog filled the air around them obscuring everything from view as Bobby and John fought.

"This is it." Logan said as Colossus grabbed him and Vanessa stood by ready to steady him. "Hey. Make it a strike."

"No problem." Vanessa said with a smile as she and Colossus sprang into action. Colossus spun him around then threw him with all of his might as Vanessa gave him an extra push making sure he was on target.

Magneto stretched out his hand forcing Logan to skid into the ground coming to a halt then flipped him over with a flick of his wrist.

"You never learn, do you?" Magneto sneered.

"Actually, I do." Logan said as Beast came up behind Magneto and stabbed him with the cure.

"I'm…" Magneto said in shock.

"One of them." Logan finished for him. Magneto struggled as he fell to the ground and turned to face Jean.

"This is what they want for all of us." He said looking into her eyes.

"It's over, Jean." Logan said. "It's over." It looked like she was about to give in when suddenly the Calvary came in weapons blazing. "No! Don't shoot! No!"

Utter destruction broke out as Jean rose in the air tearing everything apart with her mind. The building, cars, debris, and people all fell victim to her will.

"Jean no." Vanessa yelled as she tried to use her shields to protect the soldiers. She could feel Jean pressing on her and Vanessa pressed back feeling a wave of new power hit her, but it wasn't enough. She could feel a burst of pain in her head that sent her reeling to the ground landing hard on her back her energy spent.

"Everybody get out of there!" Hank yelled as he grabbed Vanessa pulling her up into his arms and chaos erupted around them.

"I'm sorry, she's just too strong." Vanessa said as she held onto Hank. She felt sick to her stomach, blood was dripping from her nose, and her head was pounding.

"I'm the only one who can stop her." Logan said then turned to Storm. "Get everyone to safety. Go." Storm took off into the air as Hank carried Vanessa away. "Jean!" Logan yelled. "Jean! I know you're still there!" Jean sent a wave of burning power at him ripping through his suit and skin that was barely managing to keep up.

"You would die for them?" Jean hissed.

"No, not for them. For you." Logan said and this seemed to surprise her. "For you."

"Save me." Jean cried brokenly.

"I love you." Logan sobbed before he stabbed her, killing her. He stood there holding her in his arms as everything fell around them.


	23. Chapter 23

Three memorials now set in the center of the garden commemorating their beloved teachers and friends. In their honor they had reopened the school and students were pouring in by the droves.

"Hey." Storm said as Jimmy ran up to her and gave her a hug. "Good to see you, buddy."

"Jimmy." Vanessa said with a smile as she rubbed the top of his head. Then motioned to where two boys about his age were waving him over. "Blake and Tyler are inside waiting for you."

"Thanks." Jimmy said before he rushed off.

It had been a week since Alcatraz and things were looking up for the institute and mutants over all it seemed. Her dad had been upset with her when he found out, but luckily he was in Afghanistan and about to present the Jericho so he didn't really have time to give her the proper read off of the right act, but Pepper had filled in nicely. Ororo had seen her after the call and commented on how pale and scared she looked, but that was nothing compared to the rant she heard from Loki.

*Flashback*

Vanessa watched as Loki paced back and forth as he ranted on and on about how putting her life in such foolish danger was completely reckless of her. How she could have been killed or injured and so much more, the list was almost endless.

"Loki." Vanessa said, but her didn't hear her and continued on. "Loki." She tried again in a sing song voice to no effect. "Loki." Rolling her eyes she stepped directly into his pathway causing him to come to a stop as she took hold of his upper arms. "Loki, I had to do it. I could not stand by and not do anything."

"But…" He started. Vanessa put a hand up.

"Loki, please understand that this was my family and I had to protect them." Vanessa said. "You would do the same for yours."

"I know, I just don't want to lose you." Loki said softly as he pulled her into a tight hug resting his cheek on the top of her head as he held her. She in turn wrapped her arms around him as well sighing contentedly.

"You won't." Vanessa said as she nuzzled into his embrace.

He kissed the top of her head making her feel like she had been doused in warm water. She smiled as she looked up at him and he quickly captured her mouth in a tender kiss, holding as close to himself as he could.

A light nip at her lip caused her to gasp giving Loki the chance to slip his tongue into her mouth. He gave her enough hesitation to pull back if she wanted, but she pressed forward teasing his tongue with hers.

"I should get into more fights." Vanessa said with a dreamy smile when they parted. Loki just smiled as he brought her in for another world shattering kiss. Her last coherent thought was that she could get used to this.

*End of Flashback*

"Did you hear about Hank?" Ororo asked breaking Vanessa out of her thoughts as they continued to watch kids come in.

"You mean Ambassador Hank." Vanessa said. "Yeah, I've never seen him so happy." Suddenly Vanessa's phone went off jingling the 'Power Ranger' ringtone. "I will be right back."

Vanessa stepped off to the side looking at the caller ID before answering.

"Jell-O Rhodey, what's up?" Vanessa asked in a happy voice.

"Vanessa, I don't…I don't know how to say this." Rhodey said in a hoarse voice.

"Rhodey, what's wrong?" Vanessa asked fearfully. Rhodey took a deep breath before answering her.

"Your dad is missing." Rhodey said. "He was taken prisoner by a group of terrorists." Vanessa felt her world tilt under her as she fell to her knees and her phone slid from her grasp clattering to the ground. "Vanessa? Vanessa, are you there?!"

"Vanessa, what's wrong?" Ororo said as she ran over to her, but Vanessa didn't answer. Ororo picked up the phone and talked for a bit before hanging up. Ororo wrapped her arms around Vanessa as she cried silently her eyes unfocused.

"Ororo, what wrong with Vanessa?" Logan asked as he ran over having come out to see how the new students were doing.

"Her dad, he's been taken hostage." Ororo said as she stroked Vanessa's hair.

"Oh geeze." Logan said as he knelt down and scooped Vanessa up and carried her inside and up to her room laying her gently on the bed while Ororo followed. Vanessa lay in the bed starring up at the ceiling as tears streamed down her face.

"What do we do now?" Logan asked.

Suddenly Vanessa let out a horrible scream causing Ororo and Logan too jump as every object in the room shook violently. Things started to crack and shatter all around them as she wailed. She continued to scream as Ororo gathered her into her arms rocking her back and forth as Vanessa's screams turned into sobs. Everything that had been floating in the air fell to the ground with a crash as she clung to Ororo.


End file.
